Survivor Central Hub 5: All Stars
by SSBFreak
Summary: Twenty fancharacters from the past four seasons of Survivor: Central Hub are back and wanting another shot at the million-dollar prize! Who's going to be the Sole Survivor this time? Only one way to find out!
1. Day 0

**(Day 0)**

A helicopter flew around a large, deserted island with no other land in sight. This island, like the others, was covered in bush and beach, although there were some very visible clearings in several places. After doing a few fly-bys of the island, the shot switched to an old dock on the island, where a blonde haired man wearing a red shirt and vest was seen walking down it.

"Welcome to the fifth season of Survivor: Central Hub. I'm your host, SSBFreak." The host greeted. "Over the next thirty-nine days, there will be a competition on this remote island, between twenty people who have made this journey before, and yet did not win the coveted prize at the end. These people, representing different franchises, will be competing against each other for the much-coveted second chance to win the million dollar prize and be given the title of Sole Survivor."

SSBFreak continued walking. "Over the course of the competition, there will be team-based challenges, where the losing team will be voting out one of their own. This will continue until there is only one person left, who will then be named the victor. All twenty of these contestants are no strangers to this game, and none of them want to fall first, but in the end, they must ALL be ousted at some point." SSBFreak said. "There have been four past seasons, and in this special All Stars season, we have brought back five players from each season. We'll be going in reverse order of seasons when introducing these players, so let's begin with season 4's representatives…"

Coming down the dock first was a familiar older man with a relaxed smile. People that remembered him would notice that he was wearing a green cap to cover his balding head and had shaven his trademark beard off. He wore a pair of shorts and a bright shirt.

**GARY – SEASON 4 (RUNNER-UP)**

**WALLACE & GROMIT**

"Welcome back, Gary. Looking forward to another season?" SSBFreak asked.

Gary nodded. "Indeed. I had a good time and I hope to do well here." He noted. "Looks like I'm the first one here."

"Yeah. We're going in reverse order by season, so the others from your season are literally right behind you." SSBFreak said.

"It'll be good to see them again." Gary noted as he walked past the host.

"I hope they don't disappoint." SSBFreak said with a smirk.

Gary stood on the end of the dock as the next person came down the dock, revealing himself to be a tall man with a green jacket, black shirt and glasses. He had brown hair, and Gary noticed that he hadn't changed at all.

**TEMPO – SEASON 4 (SEVENTH PLACE)**

**MEGAMAN ZX**

"Looks like you're wearing the same outfit as last time, Tempo." SSBFreak noted.

Tempo shrugged. "I made it to seventh place." He noted. "Maybe they're lucky."

"Anything you hope to do differently this time?"

"I hope that my knowledge of past seasons will help me." Tempo nodded. "I think I've anticipated some of the people coming back, so I just need to find out if I can read them like I can read their gameplay."

"What if we bring back some people you may not have anticipated?" SSBFreak asked with a smirk.

Tempo coughed. "That would probably catch me off guard." He admitted as he walked past the host to stand by Gary.

Coming down the dock next was a familiar white monkey. However, he was wearing a red shirt, red vest and black pants, much like the host himself. Gary and Tempo frowned, instantly recognizing him.

**KENDALL – SEASON 4 (FIFTH PLACE)**

**THE JUNGLE BOOK**

SSBFreak looked over Kendall for a few seconds. "Kendall…Why are you dressed like me?" He asked.

"Just taking a few pages from your wardrobe book." Kendall said with a smirk. "Besides, I'd think you'd take it as a compliment."

"Uh…Sure. Compliment." SSBFreak said flatly. "So how do you feel with this second chance?"

"So long as Samantha didn't get brought back, I'm fine." Kendall admitted. "Focusing so much attention on her lowered my guard."

"Well, you just go over there for now. With the OTHER people who remember you." SSBFreak said.

Kendall walked over and saw Gary and Tempo. He saw their sour looks and sighed in frustration. "Great." He said.

Coming down the dock next was a small player, showing herself to be a black and white panda with sparkling eyes, wearing a yellow shirt and blue shorts. She seemed to be in a positive mood.

**CHLOE – SEASON 4 (TWELFTH PLACE)**

**DRAWN TOGETHER**

"Oh! Hi, there!" Chloe greeted, her mouth moving completely out-of-sync with her words (being a Hello Kitty parody will do that). "I'm back, people!"

"Indeed you are, Chloe. I have to say you were a first choice as a pre-merge boot from your season to bring back." SSBFreak said. "I hope you don't disappoint us out here."

"Oh, no way! I'm using this to my advantage!" Chloe nodded eagerly. "With my level of cuteness, I'm sure to win over some veteran players!"

"Well, I guess only time will tell if you can do it." SSBFreak said. "Why don't you go over there and wait for everyone else?"

Chloe nodded and walked over, suddenly spotted an alliance partner from the previous season. "Ohmygosh! Tempo!" She said as she ran over and greeted Tempo. "It's been a while! I wasn't expecting to see you here!"

Tempo couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah. It's been a bit."

The fifth person coming down the dock was another small player, but this was a human girl. She had green hair, and was wearing a teal shirt that read "I Love Survivor", with a picture of a heart instead of the word love. The others were surprised to see her so excited, especially since she was supposed to be an anti-social goth…

**ERICA – SEASON 4 (THIRD PLACE)**

**JIMMY NEUTRON**

"Welcome back, Erica." SSBFreak said. "I hope that you'll have a good time out here."

"Oh, I KNOW I'll have a good time!" Erica said happily. "I'm really looking forward to meeting some of my favourite players from previous seasons! Who's coming back?"

"That's going to be a surprise for now." SSBFreak said. "I have to say that I'm surprised at this change of overall personality, though."

"I'm about to play Survivor with some of the people I was rooting for in past seasons! I could actually JOIN them!" Erica said. "I can't wait to see them!"

"Well, you're the last from your season, so everyone from here on out will be someone you watched play." SSBFreak said.

Erica nodded. "I'll go wait over there." She said as she briskly went over to join the others from her season, who (even Gary) looked a little weirded out at her strange new personality…

Coming down the dock next was a familiar blue-haired man. His unusual hairstyle had been changed slightly and he was now wearing what looked like a polyester suit, but he otherwise looked similar to how he did before.

**INFERNO – SEASON 3 (FOURTH PLACE)**

**SSX**

"Hey, Inferno. It's been a while." SSBFreak said. "How's life been treating you?"

"The Deadly Descents Tour was a heck of a thing, that's for sure." Inferno laughed. "I'm still laughing at Moby trying to outrun an avalanche!"

"You're one of our most-popular players. You think you can get a repeat performance this year?" SSBFreak asked.

Inferno gave a thumbs up. "That's the plan, bro." He said as he walked by.

Tempo gave a nod as Inferno approached. "This is off to a good start." He mused to himself. "I had a feeling he'd get cast."

Coming next was a familiar humanoid girl with an unusual helmet and heart-shaped headphones. People saw that she was wearing a tank-top and a dress that went down close to her feet. Like always, she looked cheerful.

**EDWINA – SEASON 3 (RUNNER-UP)**

**SCRIBBLENAUTS**

"Hey, Edwina. Glad to see that you're still as cheerful as ever." SSBFreak said. "I hope that you're ready for another season of Survivor."

"You're asking the Survivor superfan if she's ready for another season?" Edwina asked with a light laugh. "Come on, you know me."

"Yeah. I guess it was a dumb question." SSBFreak admitted. "Just go over there for now and I'll bring in the others."

"No problem."

"Ohmygosh! Edwina!" Erica said eagerly as she greeted the approaching girl. "Wow! I can't believe you're one of the returning players! This is awesome!"

"Oh, you watched me?" Edwina asked with a smile.

"Of course! I loved your season! Tell me, are you and Renaldo at least still friends after what happened?"

Edwina rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Funny you should mention Renaldo…"

The next person was a familiar limbless, faceless being, walking with invisible legs. The newcomer looked similar to how he looked before except that he no longer wore his headband and he was wearing a dark jacket instead of a vest.

**RENALDO – SEASON 3 (TWELFTH PLACE)**

**MADNESS COMBAT**

"Just a reminder, Renaldo. We don't want a repeat of what you did last time you were on." SSBFreak warned. "Granted, it brought drama, but it also brought complaints."

"Hey, I said I was sorry!" Renaldo said. "Besides, I stabbed MYSELF!"

"Just make sure that there isn't another incident, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Renaldo said as he walked by. "Oh. Hi, Edwina."

"Hopefully, we'll be on the same tribe again." Edwina said. "Just…No stabbing yourself this time."

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

Edwina giggled. "Nope!"

Coming down the dock next was a dark-skinned woman with short, jet-black hair. Although she was wearing what looked like a sweater with one arm ripped off, most people recognized her fully-robotic right arm and cybernetic side of her face.

**YORI – SEASON 3 (THIRD PLACE)**

**TIMESPLITTERS**

"Yori, all I can say is that I hope you're got something up your sleeve." SSBFreak said. "You have some new ideas to your gameplay?"

"A few. Just give me some time and I assure you that you'll see them all." Yori said with a smirk. "However, I'd say that my team would be crucial. Which one am I on?"

"I'm not saying until everyone's here." SSBFreak explained. "Just go over there and wait for now, okay?"

"Fine with me."

Inferno lifted his shades up slightly as Yori approached. "Well…I gotta say that I like the shorter hair." He admitted. "But it's not going to help you if you don't play differently."

"We'll see about that, blue-boy." Yori said with a smirk.

The next contestant was another woman, only this one with brown hair done into a ponytail. The highlight of her wardrobe was a blue shirt with a gold v running down the front and going over the shoulders.

**GRACE – SEASON 3 (EIGHTH PLACE)**

**TOTAL DRAMA ISLAND**

"Ready for another chance at the million, Grace?" SSBFreak asked.

"Of course. Chances like this don't come up all the time." Grace nodded. "And I hope to improve on what I did last time."

"So long as you've improved your communication skills, I think you'll be fine."

Grace narrowed her eyes. "Don't remind me about that. I've been working on it." She pointed out.

"Just checking. Why don't you go over there for a moment?"

Chloe was quick to greet Grace as she came over. "Hiya! I'm Chloe!" She greeted. "Wow! You're hair looks so pretty!"

"Heh. Thanks, kid." Grace chuckled.

Tempo appeared to be in thought. "Hmm…I wasn't expecting her to be brought back." He noted.

"Something you'd like to share with us?" Kendall asked with a smirk.

"Not with you, anyway."

The first representative of season 2 came down the dock next. People saw that it was a young woman with short brown hair. She was wearing a sleeveless shirt and baggy pants and everyone noticed that, unlike her last time, she wasn't wearing a beret.

**CHARLOTTE – SEASON 2 (THIRD PLACE)**

**STREET FIGHTER**

"Well, Charlotte. Glad to see that you could make it." SSBFreak said.

"I wouldn't miss this chance for the world, comrade." Charlotte said in a German accent. "I'm wondering who all is returning from my season, though. I hope it's people I can work with."

"Well, you're the first from your season to arrive, so we'll find out shortly." SSBFreak said. "Why don't you go over there and get acquainted with the people from seasons 3 and 4?"

"Might as well, I suppose." Charlotte shrugged as she walked over to the others.

Gary saw Charlotte coming over and held out his hand. "Hey, there. The name's Gary." He said pleasantly.

Gears turned in Charlotte's head, trying to decide on if Gary was genuinely friendly or pretending to be nice. The German woman shook Gary's hand. "Hello, comrade." She said, not feeling a very firm grip in Gary's handshake.

Next to come down the dock was a green reptile-like creature with a red spike hairstyle and a vest. People saw that, compared to his previous look, the reptile was taller and had much-more muscles than he did before…

**KRASH – SEASON 2 (ELEVENTH PLACE)**

**DONKEY KONG COUNTRY**

"Wow, Krash. Looks like you're been working out since we saw you last." SSBFreak noted, now seeing that the Kremling was almost as tall as he was.

Krash chuckled. "Yeah. Been hitting the gym to keep myself trained." He replied. "Gotta be at the top of the line for when I get chosen as a soldier."

"Well, maybe this second round of Survivor will improve your training, then."

"I sure hope so."

Krash walked over and greeted Charlotte, his alliance partner from season 2. Yori and Kendall watched him and smirked, knowing that the Kremling could potentially be someone they could control…

Next to come down the dock was a tall, thin girl with long, blonde hair, wearing a white shirt and black sweater-vest. People saw that she had a few scars on her face and looked calm, but people could tell that she normally felt otherwise.

**ANITA – SEASON 2 (FIFTH PLACE)**

**CHZO MYTHOS**

"I hear that you've become a full-fledged paranormal investigator, Anita." SSBFreak noted. "How's that working out for you?"

"Okay for the most part, but…" Anita trailed off as she traced one of her scars. "I've…Had a few…Close calls."

"Uh…Yeah. I'll bet." SSBFreak said, realizing that Anita didn't want to go any further.

"Um…I'll just go over there and wait, okay?" Anita said as she walked past the host.

"Oh, wow! This is amazing! I actually get to meet you!" Erica said. "I'm so glad you managed to face your fears and get a career, though!"

Gary scratched his head as Erica conversed with Anita. "I don't remember her being this talkative." He mused.

The next person coming down the dock was another reptilian creature, wearing a pair of shades and a multi-coloured Hawaiian shirt. In contrast to Krash, a Kremling, this reptile looked more like a turtle…

**JACK – SEASON 2 (EIGHTH PLACE)**

**SUPER MARIO BROS.**

"Welcome back, Jack. You ready for another run?" SSBFreak asked.

"Of course. Marty's been telling me to watch what I do this time so I'd have a better shot at the million." Jack said. "I'd think that I'd prepped myself up enough for this."

"Hopefully you'll be able to keep up. Remember that there are much-fresher players here than you."

"Shouldn't be too much of a problem." The koopa said with a smirk. "Just need to change up my game a bit."

"Aren't you that villain guy that just made himself look like a tool?" Kendall asked with a smirk.

"You're a fine one to talk." Chloe rolled her eyes.

The final season 2 representative came down the dock, revealed to be a pink creature with a long, pointed nose and big ears. She had jet black hair and was wearing dark clothes, which was a far cry from the bright colours that she wore back in season 2…

**MOLLY – SEASON 2 (SIXTH PLACE)**

**BANJO-KAZOOIE**

"You think that your game's going to change now that everyone knows that you are not a nice person, Molly?" SSBFreak asked with a smirk.

"No. It just means that I can stop holding back." Molly replied with a smirk. "I've got some ideas, but I need to see who I'm with before I can implement them."

"Well, we've just got one more season to introduce, so why don't you just go over there for now?"

"With pleasure." The minjo said as she walked over to the others.

Yori was quick to step forward. "Looks like you'll be needing my help." She said.

Molly lifted an eyebrow. "Who are you?" She asked.

The first representative of the first season came walking down the dock, revealing himself to be a tall, lanky rabbit with a bent ear. He wore a pair of pants, a vest and had a charm necklace around his neck.

**REGINALD – SEASON 1 (NINTH PLACE)**

**RAVING RABBIDS**

"Greetings, Reginald. It's been quite a long time." SSBFreak said. "I hope the time away from the game hasn't made you rusty."

"Oh, I'm not the one you should be worrying about." Reginald assured with a smirk. "I intend to take the money this time."

"Sounds like you're determined enough, but how about your tendencies?" SSBFreak asked.

Reginald stared flatly. "Let's just say that I'm working on it." He said as he walked past.

Chloe approached Reginald. "Oh, hi! Can I call you 'Reggie'?" She asked.

Reginald's eye started twitching a few times before he started shaking in anger, as if trying to hold pent-up frustration in. Finally, after several seconds, Reginald exhaled. "No." He said as he continued on.

The next contestant was a tall, burly man with dark hair. Everyone say that he was wearing a dark coat with long sleeves, which was opened up to show a light shirt underneath. The green bandana that usually adorned his hair was long gone.

**BARNEY – SEASON 1 (ELEVENTH PLACE)**

**SUIKODEN 3**

"I hope you'll make the most of this second chance, Barney. I know for a fact people may see you as a threat." SSBFreak said.

"Maybe so, but you cast other strong people. I should have no problem fitting in and blending into the background." Barney said. "Besides, I was getting a little bored, so I figured this would be too good to pass up."

"That's good to hear." SSBFreak nodded. "I've just got a few more people to reintroduce, so you go over there for a moment."

"Of course."

Barney walked over to the others as Edwina greeted him. "Oh! I remember you! You were, like, the strongest person ever on your season!" She said. "Man! I hope we're on the same team!"

Barney sighed. "So much for blending into the background." He said.

Suddenly hearing a Tarzan yell, everyone looked up to see the next contestant swinging in on a vine. They recognized the long, jet black hair of the woman, but saw that she had a green bow in her hair and was wearing a purple tank top. The familiar lunatic landed feet-first onto the dock with a loud crash.

**SANDY – SEASON 1 (SIXTH PLACE)**

**SAM & MAX**

"Woohoo! Did you see that?! That was awesome!" Sandy cheered. "Can I do that again?!"

"Maybe later, Sandy. We're on a bit of a time limit." SSBFreak said. "Anyway, you were one of our most-popular players, so do you think you can live up to your fans' expectations?"

"I sure hope so." Sandy said before walking over to the camera and pressing her face into it. "Hello, out there in TV Land!"

"Before I send you over to the others, I want to make sure; the guards DID confiscate your weaponry, right?"

"I guess you'll find out about that, won't you?" Sandy taunted as she scampered over to the others. SSBFreak slapped himself on the forehead.

Sandy instantly saw a familiar rabbid in the crowd of contestants and greeted him accordingly. "Hiya, Reggie!" She said.

"Reginald! Seriously, when are you going to pronounce my name right?!"

The penultimate returnee walked down the dock, ignoring the cracked wood from where Sandy landed. He had short, red-brown hair with a hint of gray and had a thin mustache. He was dressed semi-formally with a dress shirt and pants, but people that remembered him saw that he was without his trademark shades.

**ELIAS – SEASON 1 (THIRD PLACE)**

**THE MOVIES**

"I'm surprised that you invited me back." Elias admitted.

"You were one of the big players in season one. You were pretty much a given." SSBFreak shrugged. "But I hope that you haven't gotten stale, Elias. Five years is a long time."

"Indeed, but I assure you that starring in movies has only increased my experience." Elias insisted. "I just need to have the right chemistry with people."

"Well, we've just got one more person to bring out, so why don't you go over there?"

Elias walked over to the others and saw Barney staring at him suspiciously. "What?" He asked.

"Make sure you don't align with an undesirable goat this time, okay?" Barney said. "Word to the wise."

Elias scratched his head.

The last person to be introduced caught everyone by surprise at how radical the change was. Walking down the dock was a tall young woman with glasses and short, black hair. She wore a cherry red shirt and a dark skirt, and looked nothing like the petite young girl that played before.

**MEL – SEASON 1 (FOURTH PLACE)**

**MYSIMS**

"Greetings, Mel." SSBFreak said, slightly surprised at how much the tech geek had grown. "You've certainly matured a lot, haven't you?" He asked.

"It's been five years. I can't stay a teenager forever, you know." Mel said with a smirk. "So when do we start? I've been looking forward to this for a while."

"Looks like you've gained some confidence as well." SSBFreak said. "You're the last one. Just go over there and reintroduce yourself for a second."

"Oh, wow! You're Mel?!" Erica asked as the new Mel came over. "I'm a huge fan! I never thought you'd have changed so much in these years!"

"Oh, you're one of the players from the newest season, aren't you?" Mel asked. "Sorry, but I'm not familiar with you guys since I haven't seen your season yet."

"Yeah. Our season is currently being aired." Gary shrugged.

"Is that so?" Kendall mused with a smirk.

"Well, I think that's everyone. It's time to get things started." SSBFreak said as he walked over. "Congratulations on making it onto this show for a second time everyone. Before we begin, I need to split you all into teams, so if you'll follow me, we can begin."

The twenty players followed SSBFreak off the beach and onto the grass, where they saw two tribe mats sitting on the ground. They also saw that one of them was a bright pink and the other was a deep purple.

"Wait. Pink and purple are the tribe colours?!" Jack asked. "What's the heck's up with that?!"

"Just our way of screwing with you guys since you're all used to it by now." SSBFreak shrugged. "Okay, you will be split into two teams of ten before we begin and the teams have been chosen ahead of time. On the pink team are..."

The cast stayed silent for a moment.

"…Chloe…Molly…Reginald…Sandy…Gary…Tempo…Mel…Yori…Krash…And Elias." SSBFreak said as the ten players went over to the pink mat and stepped on. "You ten players will make up the Arkos Tribe."

"Ugh…Of course I get the pink tribe." Elias muttered.

"I've got no problem with it." Gary shrugged, pointing out the pink shirt he was wearing.

"You wouldn't." Tempo piped up.

"That leaves the remaining ten players to step onto the purple tribe…" SSBFreak explained. "…Grace…Jack…Charlotte…Erica…Edwina…Barney…Renaldo…Inferno…Kendall…And Anita. From here on out, you ten will be the Xon Tribe."

"Is that pronounced X-On or Zon?" Grace asked.

"Zon."

"Okay. Just checking."

"Here are some maps to get you guys to your tribes. In addition, I'll give you a little tip. There is a Hidden Immunity Idol hidden at each of your camps. Just thought I'd let you know." SSBFreak said as he handed Reginald and Inferno the maps to the tribes. "I'll contact you via treemail in a few days with your first challenge info. Good luck to you all, because even after surviving this show once, you're going to need it."

The two tribes then dispersed, walking into the jungle and vanishing from sight, effectively starting the competition. Once they were gone, SSBFreak turned to the camera.

"39 Days…20 All Star players…And one Sole Survivor!"


	2. Days 1 to 3

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 1)**

"Looks like this is it." Reginald announced as he led his tribe into their first camp. "That didn't take very long…"

The Arkos Tribe's camp was of relative size. The tribe was along the shore and the beach extended for the entire length of the tribe, although there appeared to be a stream from the jungle that was running down the middle of the camp, separating it into two halves. Single trees littered the camp, providing shade when needed.

"Aw…No waterfall this time." Chloe said. "That sucks."

"This time?" Mel asked.

"Eh, tribe we were on in our season had a cool waterfall." Tempo shrugged.

Mel chuckled. "You guys were lucky. All my tribe got was a clearing in the middle of the jungle."

"_I'm satisfied with our tribe. After spending so long away from the game, I'll pretty much take what I can get." Mel admitted. "Still, it's good to be back again and I've missed playing. It may take a bit for me to get back into the swing of things, but I think I'm ready."_

"_I have a bit of an advantage here because the older players haven't seen my season yet. At the same time, I've been re-watching past seasons so I can get a handle on how everyone will play." Tempo said. "For the most part, I think I'm prepared. I know Yori and Molly are not to be trusted while it's probably best that I stay away from Sandy for obvious reasons…"_

"Well, I'd say that the first thing we should do is build a shelter." Reginald folded his arms. "Anyone have any suggestions on where we should build it?"

"We can put it over in the corner of the tribe where there aren't a lot of trees." Elias pointed out. "It would save us wasting the shade we have."

"I think that sounds like a good plan." Gary added.

"Okay. The stronger people can work on building a shelter." Reginald said. "Chloe, Molly, Mel and I can work on putting a fire pit together."

Sandy suddenly appeared behind Reginald and looked at him over his shoulder. "Just be sure that your condition doesn't get in the way, Reggie." She taunted.

"It's REGINALD! And it's not a condition!"

"_Seriously! I'm a RABBID. I SCREAM. It's what I DO, as much as it pains me to say it." Reginald said flatly. "Still, I decided to try being the leader here, because if anyone's going to keep order around here, it may as well me be. I think we should be able to get things built in record time under my watch."_

"_Oh, how I've missed being able to do that." Sandy said with a playful smirk._

"You think you'll be able to keep up, old man?" Yori asked Gary with a smirk, as if challenging him.

Gary responded with a shrug. "I suppose we'll just have to see about that, won't we?" He said nonchalantly.

With that, the tribe dispersed, briefly leaving Sandy and Krash alone. The two stood in silence for a few seconds, Sandy looking at Krash a little oddly.

"Uh…Can I help you?" Krash asked.

Sandy blinked a couple of times. "So are you from the games or the cartoon?" She asked.

"…Huh?"

"Because, for the record, I'm a HUGE fan of Eddie the Mean Ol' Yeti." Sandy said. "And some of those songs that you guys sing? CLASSIC."

_Krash sat in front of the confessional, scratching his head in confusion. "Something tells me this is going to be a really weird game." He said._

**(Xon Tribe; Day 1)**

"Okay, dudes! We're here!" Inferno announced as he led his tribe into camp.

The Xon Tribe's camp appeared to be two-tiered. There was a pathway that went up onto a ledge in the corner of camp, and there was another ledge that went up even higher on the other side. Like the Arkos Tribe, the Xon Tribe had a beach, although a smaller one, but there was a small pond in the middle of camp with a small stream connecting it to the ocean.

"Not bad at all." Barney nodded. "And I think I can see a place where we can build the shelter."

"Yeah, on one of the ledges." Grace said. "That's pretty much a no-brainer."

"_We got a nice camp, and I have to say that it looks a heck of a lot better than the tribe I was put on back in season three." Grace said with a smirk. "But now that I'm here, I want to get right down to business. That being said, we should probably focus on getting things put together first."_

Erica was looking around in awe at all of the older players that she was teamed up with. Setting her sights on Edwina and Renaldo, Erica bounded over to them. "I still can't believe I'm here with you guys! I must have watched your season five times!" She greeted.

"Sounds like someone's excited." Edwina laughed. "But hey, remember that you're an All Star as well. You got the invite to come back."

"I know! That makes it so much more-awesome!"

"_Man. I heard Erica was an anti-social goth girl. The first thing she does here in fangirl over all of the old players, myself included." Edwina said. "I mean, I'm excited to be here as well, because it's not often the Survivor superfan gets to play an ALL STAR game. I guess I'm just able to hide my excitement a little better than Erica."_

"You HAVE to tell me! Are you two at least still friends?" Erica asked.

"Well, we haven't really been in touch a lot." Renaldo admitted sheepishly. "We live pretty far away and, well, I've got a hectic schedule as it is."

"Yeah. Hired gun, remember?" Edwina supplied.

"You two dating yet?" Erica asked with a grin.

Edwina blushed and looked away. Renaldo gave a nervous cough (how he was able to do it without a mouth Erica would never know). "Um…No. We're not." Renaldo admitted.

"_It's so awesome to be here! I still can't get over how I'm playing Survivor with my favourite players!" Erica said excitedly. "I can't wait to get to know some of them! Maybe they'll want to form an alliance with me! That'd be so cool!"_

"You guys think you'd be able to help make the fire pit?" Charlotte asked as she came over.

"Oh. Sure." Edwina said, trying to hide her blush. "Not like we'd be much help building a shelter."

"Good. You three would be with Kendall and Anita then."

Erica's smile suddenly vanished. "Great." She said at the mention of Kendall's name.

"Something wrong, comrade?" Charlotte asked.

"Just remember that Kendall isn't to be trusted, okay?"

"_Hmm…If what Erica tells me about Kendall is true, I may already have a goat on my hands. I'll need to see exactly how insufferable he is, but this gives me ideas." Charlotte said. "I don't want to ruin my game by taking an insufferable goat to the end, so I'll just have to see if Kendall is as bad as Erica says he is."_

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"H-How the blazes are you that strong?!" Elias demanded as he struggled to keep up with Gary, who was carrying twice as much lumber as anyone else.

"Oh, I don't know. It's just how I ended up, I suppose." Gary laughed.

Elias and Gary piled the lumber up by where the tribe was building the shelter. "So why don't you tell me a bit about your season?" Elias asked. "I'm curious as to how things went."

Gary shrugged. "I lost in the finals. As far as everyone else here goes, the other tribe got an insufferable guy and my former alliance partner." He said.

"_Hmm…Gary tells me that he made the finals last time and lost. He's obviously strong, so that would make him a good ally, but he seems a little nice. That could make him a threat." Elias noted. "Still, I've learned from my mistakes last time. If I'm to align with someone, I need to make sure that they aren't a goat."_

"_I always thought Elias was a little bit of a grump, but he seems to have his head on straight. And, despite the general opinion on him, he's indeed a good actor." Gary supplied. "Yes, I've seen his movies. Mostly B-list stuff, but hey, most are mindless fun."_

"You guys seen Yori?" Tempo asked as he came over. "I thought she was supposed to help us with the shelter."

"I haven't seen her. I thought we've just been missing her." Gary noted.

Meanwhile, Yori was on the other side of the beach, having a conversation with Molly. It was clear she was up to no good.

"I think it'd be in our best interests to join forces for now." Yori said. "Neither of us can deny that we've got a lot of people after us."

Molly folded her arms. "I still don't see why I need to align with you, anyway." She said.

"Because you need me. You just don't realize it yet."

"_It's been known that Molly's a snake for a long time now and that automatically gives her a huge target on her back." Yori said. "That's something I can use to my advantage. Even if it doesn't work, people probably hate Molly more than me at the moment, so she's more-likely to go and give me more time to think."_

"_Yori thinks she's so smart trying to corner me into an alliance. Well, I didn't get to be a successful villain on the show by bending to other people's will." Molly insisted. "The fact that my cover's been blown just means that I just need to stop pulling punches. Yori doesn't need to know that, though."_

"Just keep it in mind. No one else is likely to form an alliance with you." Yori assured with a smirk as she walked off.

Molly gave a smirk of her own. "That's what you think." She said as she turned and walked back over to where the others were building a fire pit.

"Where were you?" Chloe asked. "We already got a fair bit of the fire pit done."

"Doesn't matter." Molly replied.

**(Xon Tribe)**

"You notice how it mainly seems to be just the two of us putting the shelter together?" Barney asked Inferno as he held a support beam in place.

"Yeah, but it doesn't bug me." Inferno shrugged. "I mean, we're both stronger than Charlotte and Grace…And I haven't seen much of Jack yet."

"_This is actually kind of frustrating. I was hoping to lay low for a bit and blend in with the other strong players, but then I get put on a tribe where the only one near my level of strength is Inferno." Barney muttered. "I really wish that some of the other strong players ended up on my tribe, but I guess there's nothing I can do about it now."_

"_I'm a little bugged that there aren't a lot of strong people that I can hide behind, but if Barney's here, then the target's off my back." Inferno said, forming a smirk. "Perhaps I should form an alliance with him. If anything, the two of us are going to need to stick together if either of us are going to go anywhere near the merge."_

"You think we should join forces for a bit, man?" Inferno asked. "I mean, sooner or later, the others are going to come after us."

"Sounds like a plan. I feel I'm going to need the help." Barney nodded.

Meanwhile, Jack was off on his own, having a talk with a particular person on his tribe.

"_Okay, so I watched my season on TV after it aired and I felt like a tool when I saw that Roscoe was planning on backstabbing me when I was planning on doing the same to him." Jack folded his arms. "Keeping this in mind, I want to try it again, this time with someone I don't think is smart enough to catch on to what I'm doing…Like Kendall."_

"You want to form an alliance?" Kendall asked. "Isn't that what you and that rat tried back in your season?"

"Yeah, but I think we'd have more success here." Jack nodded.

"And why would I believe that you aren't secretly planning to backstab me once we hit the merge?" Kendall asked suspiciously.

"Hey, it didn't work the first time. Why would I try it again?"

"_Jack must take me for an idiot. I should be thankful that my season hasn't aired yet, because otherwise he'd know that I'm not the best person to form an alliance with." Kendall said. "Maybe I should go along with it for now, though. The last thing that idiot needs to know is that I'm smarter than he thinks I am."_

"Sure. I'm in for now." Kendall said.

"Sweet. Thanks a bunch, man. Joining me really helps me out." Jack said.

"No. Thank _**you**_."

Night eventually rolled in. Having completed their shelters, the two tribes went to bed, putting an end to their first day back in the game.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 2)**

"I don't know about this, Chloe…"

"Aw, c'mon! Don't be such a stick-in-the-mud, Tempo! She needs an alliance!"

"_Well, after we started, I saw that no one was really hanging out with Sandy except Krash." Chloe said. "So then, a light just goes on in my head! Instant alliance member! If she's looking for help, Tempo and I can give it to her!"_

"So you want to form an alliance?" Sandy asked suspiciously.

Chloe nodded. "Yeah! I think all three of us could benefit from it in the long run!" She replied.

Sandy looked Chloe up and down for a few seconds. "You're not a spy for the sand weavals, are you?" She asked darkly.

"Uh…The what?"

"I knew this was a bad idea." Tempo sighed.

"_The sand weavals got the better of me back in season one and I was unable to find them. However, now that I'm back, I've got a second chance to find them." Sandy said. "Well, watch out, sand weavals! I'm not going to admit defeat a second time! I WILL find you and I WILL uncover the conspiracy!"_

"_I made a mental note to stay away from Sandy when I started, but lo and behold, she's the first person Chloe went for to make an alliance with." Tempo sighed. "Not off to the best start…"_

Yori looked around and saw Mel off to the side, washing her face in the stream. The cyborg woman walked over to the dark-haired woman.

"Just who I wanted to see." Yori said.

"Something I can help you with?" Mel asked.

"I want to join forces with you." Yori said, crouching down. "Look, I know you're not as comfortable out here by yourself. I didn't see Crane arrive and Barney's on the other tribe."

"Wait. When did I say that I was uncomfortable?"

"Okay, maybe what I meant is that you don't have any allies out here yet." Yori shrugged. "How about we fix that?"

"_I've got Molly on my side, but that's still just the two of us. I need to align with other people that seem to be without allies." Yori explained. "From what I can tell, Mel appears to be the only other one without any friendships so far. I won't deny that Mel's a fierce player, so I'd prefer to remain on her good side."_

"_Yori makes me uneasy. She likely assumes that I'm uncomfortable and that I haven't changed at all in these past five years." Mel pointed out. "Well, she's wrong about that. I've got a LOT more self-confidence now, and I don't need to align with someone like Yori because I know I can get on the good graces of some other people."_

**(Xon Tribe; Day 2)**

"Oh! So you're getting better control over your nightmares?" Erica asked.

Anita nodded. "I guess it came with me becoming a paranormal detective." She admitted. "After the sort of things I've survived, my nightmares don't bother me like they used to."

"Well, that's great that you're not a nervous wreck anymore."

"_When I saw Anita, I'll admit that I was a little nervous for her, like she'd have a relapse of what happened before." Erica said. "But she looks so much calmer, now. That's great because she was one of my favourite players and I hated to see her so terrified."_

"_It's taken a lot of time and effort, not to mention a few close calls, but I think I've managed to regulate my lifestyle." Anita said before pointing at her facial scars. "Like I said, these scars aren't just for show. They're more of a testament of what I've gone through."_

"You want to join forces?" Erica asked hopefully.

"Well, sure. I'm up for an alliance." Anita nodded. "But it's just the two of us."

"I've seen Barney and Inferno talking! Maybe they'll be up for a four-person alliance!"

Without giving Anita time to respond, Erica turned and scampered off.

Erica flew right past Grace, who was in turn conversing with Charlotte. "What's with her?" She asked.

"I don't know, comrade." Charlotte shrugged. "Probably still on her fangirl high."

"Probably, but she still told you about Kendall, right?" Grace asked.

"Indeed she did. Apparently, that monkey is craftier than he lets on."

"_Erica's been telling us that Kendall isn't to be trusted. While it makes sense, part of me's wondering if she's actually telling the truth." Grace said. "Charlotte would probably know more about this than me because she's got experience with people actually being something that they aren't."_

"You're doubting Erica, comrade?" Charlotte asked.

"It's weird. Because we don't know her OR Kendall, we have no idea who's telling the truth." Grace said. "But what's your opinion on this?"

"Suppose Erica IS telling the truth. What does that make Kendall?"

"A pretty good goat."

"_Grace and I tend to think alike on many things, and it seems we were thinking the same thing about Kendall." Charlotte said. "Maybe the two of us can work together. If Kendall really IS an insufferable person, then the three of us can go to the end and it would basically be between Grace and I."_

"Just remember that we never had this conversation if it turns out Erica's wrong about Kendall." Charlotte said.

"I know. Assuming too much was what killed me last time." Grace rolled her eyes.

**(Arkos Tribe)**

Molly sat by the fire pit, in deep thought. Krash saw this and found himself walking over to her.

"_Molly was on my season, but the two of us were never on the same tribe so I never really knew much about her." Krash shrugged. "Everything everyone says about usually isn't that good, so I thought I may as well talk to her and see what the fuss was about."_

"Penny for your thoughts?" Krash asked as he walked up.

"No. Go away." Molly said flatly. "I've got enough on my plate as it is."

"Like what?" Krash asked as he sat down.

Molly stared blankly for a few seconds. "Fine, if it'll make you leave me alone." She said. "Yori's trying to corner me into an alliance and I don't know how to get out of it."

"Yori? Isn't she that robot woman?"

"_Here's the problem I've got. Yori's trying to weasel her way into an alliance with me and it's too early for me to get any real ideas going." Molly said. "Now, getting everyone else to turn on her is no problem, but I need a REASON. No one's going to buy the nice girl act anymore."_

"Kinda weird how she's the only one from her season on this tribe, isn't it?" Krash said.

"Yes, I suppose it is." Molly nodded. "Now will you kindly…"

Before Molly had time to finish, Sandy appeared behind Krash and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Hey, Krash! You gotta come see this!"

Leaving Molly in thought, Sandy dragged Krash over to where Reginald was sleeping by a tree.

"What did you do that for? I was talking." Krash said.

"Talking to someone who is liable to use you. Now watch this; It's funny." Sandy said.

Cupping her hands, Sandy scooped a small handful of water from the stream in the middle of camp and threw it on Reginald's face, jerking him away.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Reginald screamed, his eyes turning red for a second.

As Sandy doubled over in laughter, Reginald snarled. "For crying out loud, Sandy! Grow up!" He said.

"Never!"

"_She has serious problems." Reginald said, wringing water out of one of his ears. "Leave it to Sandy to exploit my Rabbid tendencies to scream at random just for her amusement."_

**(Xon Tribe)**

"Anita! Anita, where are you?" Erica called out as she walked around camp.

"What's up, Erica?" Renaldo asked as he walked over.

"I can't find Anita. She was here a second ago, I left and came back and now I can't find her." Erica scratched her head. "You…You guys haven't seen her, have you?"

"No. I haven't seen her since this morning." Renaldo said. "The last I saw, she was with you."

"_Yeesh, this is weird. Anita seems to have vanished into thin air. But we all know that she couldn't have gone far because there's really nowhere to go." Renaldo said. "Still, the only thing any of us could really do is go around and see if anyone's seen her."_

"How the heck can someone just vanish into thin air?" Inferno asked.

"Maybe she fled the camp and swam back to civilization." Kendall smirked.

"Dude, this is serious." Jack said. "Believe me, I was with her back on season two and I know how much of a basket case she is."

"We both do, I'm afraid." Charlotte folded her arms.

"_Hey, if Anita IS gone, it's no skin off my back. One less person to worry about, as far as I'm concerned." Kendall shrugged. "Then again, if people are looking around for her constantly, that may make my job even easier…"_

"_I wasn't with Anita for very long back in season two, but boy do I remember those screams of hers. We could hear them all the way from the other camp." Jack noted. "Still, the way she vanished like that makes me hope nothing happened…"_

"Look, Erica. I'm sure Anita will come back before too long. We're on an island, here. There's not a whole lot of places to go." Barney supplied.

Erica sighed. "I know." She admitted.

The tribe dispersed to carry on with their business, although some still looked for the blonde girl that vanished. However, just after everyone left the vicinity, there was a flash of light near a palm tree. In the blink of an eye, Anita materialized underneath the tree, curled up into a fetal position and shivering with fear.

"_How…How did that…Just happen? I…I shifted…Just like Trilby did at the hotel…" Anita stammered, looking like she had just seen a ghost._

Although Erica was glad that Anita was back when she found her, she didn't want to question why she looked terrified. Night eventually rolled in for the two tribes and they decided to head to bed, knowing that there would be a challenge the following day…

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 3)**

"_Well, it's already been three days and we know that we're going to be having our first challenge today. Boy, it's going to be weird getting back into the swing of things." Gary laughed. "Still, we've got a long road ahead of us and we're not getting anywhere just standing around."_

Gary whistled a tune as he washed his hands in the creek. Elias saw him and came over. "You seem pretty chipper for so early in the morning." He said.

"It's just who I am, I suppose." Gary shrugged. "So I take it you want to talk strategy?"

Elias paused. "If that's fine with you." He said.

Gary gave another shrug. "I was never really the thinker back in my season, but I'm willing to offer feedback if you want." He said.

"_Gary's an unusual character. He says that he made the finals, but judging his personality, he seems WAY too nice. Part of me's wondering if this is just an act." Elias said. "Still, I need someone to run ideas by, and if Gary's willing to listen, I'll work with it."_

"I think it's clear we need to focus on Molly and Yori first." Elias said.

Gary nodded. "I suppose. Those two could control the game if we let them." He reasoned. "I don't have a problem with it."

"That's good. This means we're on the right track."

"Hey, everyone! We've got our first treemail!"

Elias turned and saw Chloe running into camp with treemail. "Hmm…That didn't take long." He said as he got up and made his way over. By now, the others gathered around as well.

"So what are we up against for our first challenge, Chloe?" Mel asked.

"It's wondering how we are at obstacle courses." Chloe read.

"Should be a piece of cake." Yori said.

"Against people like Barney, Inferno and Charlotte?" Tempo asked flatly.

Yori paused. "Touche."

"_The first challenge…I'm a little intimidated. At first, I was feeling confident with my chances in challenges, but now I realize that I'm up against more-experienced players." Tempo folded his arms. "If we're going to win, we need to be on our toes. I have a feeling that we're going to need it."_

**(Xon Tribe; Day 3)**

"How're you feeling, Anita?" Inferno asked. "You still look a little pale."

"I'm fine, really." Anita assured.

"What happened, anyway?" Barney asked.

Anita sighed. "Hopefully something that won't happen again. Let's just leave it at that." She said.

"_Well, Anita says that she's fine, so I'm not going to push my luck any further. Still, Erica came to Barney and I wanting to make an alliance and I'm liking the idea." Inferno said. "Barney and I are going to need help to blend in with everyone here, so if we had the numbers, we'll be fine."_

"You think we can get anyone else on our side?" Barney asked Erica.

"I'm sure we could. Edwina and Renaldo may be up for joining us." Erica pointed out.

"Yeah. I think we'd have the best luck with them." Inferno nodded.

"Works for me, but who should we target first?" Barney asked.

"I still say Kendall." Erica interjected.

"_If there's one thing that I don't like about this, it's that I got stuck on the same tribe as Kendall. It's no secret that he nothing but scum, but the big problem is that I'm the only one on the tribe that really knows that." Erica said. "If I want to vote Kendall out, I need to convince everyone else that I'm right about him."_

"Looks like we've got treemail." Renaldo said as he walked into camp.

"So what are we up against?" Grace asked.

"An obstacle course, it looks like."

"Probably going to be a multi-sectioned challenge that the first challenges usually are." Kendall folded his arms.

"_If the challenge is physical, we may be at a disadvantage since the only real strong people we have are Barney and Inferno." Grace said. "The other tribe has more physically-able players, so they'd have a leg up on us in that department. I can only hope that the challenge is going to be something else…"_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The two tribes emerged from the jungle in opposite directions and stepped onto a clearing by the beach. Seeing their mats on the ground, the two tribes walked over and stepped on.

"Welcome to your first challenge, everyone. Here, we will be seeing how well you all function as a team." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw that there were a few pieces of what looked like an obstacle course behind the host. "Here's how this is going to work. First, five members of each team need to walk across a long and narrow balance beam. If someone falls, they need to go back and try again. Once all five members are across, then two more people will start pulling a huge weight thirty feet across the ground. Once that is done, the final three members of each team will go into the water and look for a group of fifty small boxes, which are submerged. Only one of these fifty boxes has a key in it, which the finder will then run onto the shore and unlock a treasure chest with it. The first team to unlock the chest will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

The tribes looked at each other. The challenge sounded a bit complicated, but they felt that they understood it.

"If you'll all decide who will be doing what, we can begin." SSBFreak said.

**(Later…)**

The positions were chosen relatively quickly. The people running across the balance beam for Arkos were Chloe, Mel, Molly, Reginald and Elias, while the ones for Xon were Edwina, Renaldo, Anita, Erica and Kendall. The ones pulling the weight for Arkos were Gary and Yori while the ones for Xon were Barney and Inferno. This left the swimmers for Arkos to be Tempo, Sandy and Krash while the ones for Xon were Charlotte, Grace and Jack.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

The five people from each tribe quickly got onto the balance beam and started making their way across, although they quickly realized how thin it was as Reginald, Chloe and Renaldo were quick to fall off and land on the ground.

"Get up and try again!" Molly directed. "We don't want to fall behind this early!"

"You're a little ray of sunshine now." Elias said flatly as he walked behind Molly.

"You're a fine one to talk."

"Man. This isn't good." Renaldo said as he raced to the start to try the balance beam again. Chloe and Reginald were right behind him as the three climbed back up onto the beam again.

"I can't believe I let myself fall like that." Reginald muttered.

At the front of the Arkos line was Mel, who stumbled a bit as she tried to balance herself. This caused her to slow down and hold up her team for a second.

"Mel, you're holding us back!" Elias said.

"I know you guys are struggling as much as I am." Mel retorted.

Anita appeared to be holding up her team as well, going a little slower than the others would have liked. However, she was still managing to go faster than Mel and was gaining her team a bit of a lead.

"We got this! We're in the lead!" Erica said.

"For now." Edwina reminded. "We need to hurry, though."

"Star going faster, you!" Kendall snapped. "I would have been across by now!"

"I'm trying!" Anita said.

"We've got a lead, Kendall. You don't have to be a smart-mouth about it!" Erica snapped.

Renaldo was managing to catch up to his tribe, trying to go fast so he wouldn't waste too much time. Reginald and Chloe were falling behind him, as the two of them had to work their way across together and not separately.

Eventually, the Xon Tribe managed to get to the other side of the balance beam. While the first four members got off, Renaldo raced across the beam to catch up.

"Sorry I fell, guys! I slipped!" Renaldo insisted.

"It's fine. We're still ahead." Edwina nodded.

Before Renaldo got across, the Arkos Tribe managed to cross the beam as well, but had to wait for Reginald and Chloe, who by this point had fallen quite a bit behind Renaldo.

"Come on! Pick up the pace!" Mel said.

Renaldo suddenly finished crossing the beam, leaving Reginald and Chloe with about a third of the way to go. "Alright! I'm done!" Renaldo said.

"The Xon Tribe is across the beam. Barney and Inferno can start pulling their weight." SSBFreak said.

The two strong members of Xon quickly pulled on their weight, which was a huge block that looked like it weighed three-hundred pounds easy, across the ground. The two were attached to the block by straps and had to use their body to pull.

"Okay. We need to pull at the same time if we want to make any ground." Barney instructed.

"Yeah, man. Just say the word." Inferno said with a smirk.

Barney sighed, hating to have to take the lead. "Fine…Pull!"

Barney and Inferno pulled on the weight at once, managing to drag it a good portion. By the time this was happening, Reginald and Chloe managed to cross the balance beam.

"Arkos is across the beam now. Gary and Yori can start with their weight." SSBFreak announced.

"Try to keep up with me, okay?" Yori asked.

Gary gave a shrug. "Whatever you say." He said.

Yori tried to get Gary to pull at the same time as her, but while she was leading she wasn't making up a lot of ground. Whenever Gary pulled on the weight, Yori would get surprised at how much the weight was moving.

"Yori, let Gary lead! He's way stronger!" Chloe called out.

"How are you so strong for an old man?!" Yori asked.

Gary was silent and simply shrugged again.

Meanwhile, Barney and Inferno were making up a lot of ground, still moving in sync with each other. The two had already managed to pull their weight half of the thirty required feet and were showing no signs of slowing down.

"Man. Look at them go." Anita folded her arms.

"I've almost forgotten why Inferno was so strong." Edwina nodded.

At the same time, Gary and Yori had managed to get into a rhythm, but they were still far behind Barney and Inferno at this point. Gary was picking up most of the slack, but it looked like it still wasn't enough.

"How are we still losing ground?" Yori asked. "This doesn't make any sense…"

"They're the stronger duo." Gary reasoned.

"Try not to take everything in stride or it'll cost you the game again." Yori said darkly.

"I made the finals in my season." Gary said with a smile. This seemed to shut Yori up.

Barney and Inferno wasted no time in getting their weight across the specified line to signify that they had pulled it thirty feet. The two looked exhausted, but satisfied.

"Okay, the Xon Tribe can now send the swimmers into the water." SSBFreak explained.

"That's our cue." Grace said.

"Let's go!" Jack cheered.

Charlotte, Grace and Jack ran down the beach and jumped into the water, quickly submerging to find the cluster of boxes to open.

"They're getting a head-start on us." Yori said. "We need to catch up."

"Of course." Gary nodded.

"Come on, you two! We're losing!" Molly called out.

Grace suddenly emerged from the water and gasped for breath. "Drat. That's one box that doesn't have the key." She said as she took another breath and went under again. As she did, Charlotte and Jack emerged, also empty-handed.

"Curse my luck." Charlotte grunted before going under again.

Reginald folded his arms. "Hmm…They've already got a big lead on us." He noted. "By the time we get to that point, the key will have probably been found."

"All the more reason to get them to finish quicker." Elias added.

Gary and Yori were almost done pulling their weight, and with one more yank, hauled it across the line. By this point, all three swimmers from Xon had come up empty-handed again and went back under for a third attempt.

"The Arkos swimmers may now go." SSBFreak announced.

"You heard the man, buddy-boys! Let's go!" Sandy said as she grabbed Krash and Tempo by the arms, charged down to the beach and leapt into the water, taking both her surprised teammates with her.

"It's going to be close now that we've all caught up." Gary noted with a smile. "This is exciting."

"How can you be so calm?" Elias asked.

"You get used to it." Chloe said with a smirk.

Charlotte and Sandy emerged from the water empty-handed and went under again to open up another box. As they did, Grace emerged, followed by Tempo and Jack. Because none of them had the key, all three went back under again.

A few moments passed. Everyone had come up a few times empty-handed, but most were surprised to see that Krash hadn't come up at all yet. This seemed to surprised most of the others.

"Is Krash still holding his breath?" Reginald asked, surprised.

"He's a reptile. I suspect that it's only natural." Molly folded her arms. "He was able to hold his breath real long in a challenge back in my season."

Krash finally came up for breath, but was empty-handed. Taking another breath, the Kremling quickly went back under again.

Time passed by extremely-slowly for the castaways on the shore. They knew that the challenge could be close, so they all waited to see how things would go.

Jack emerged from the water, but shot his hand into the air, showing that he had collected the key. The Xon Tribe cheered for Jack as he made his way back to shore.

"Alright! I did it!" Jack cheered as he ran towards the locked treasure chest where everyone else was standing. By this point, everyone else had emerged from the water and watched him get out.

"Nuts. That's no fun." Sandy pouted.

Jack quickly jammed the key into the keyhold on the chest and twisted it, throwing open the lid on the chest, revealing a two large bags inside.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Xon wins Immunity!"

"Alright! The first win of the season!" Jack cheered.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Xon Tribe. You are all safe for at least another few days, and as a Reward, you will be given these two large bags of rice that were inside the chest." SSBFreak said as he handed the two bags to the Xon Tribe. He then turned to the losing tribe. "Arkos Tribe, I have nothing for you, and will be seeing you all tonight at Tribal Council, where one of you will be voted out as the first casualty of this All Stars season. I'll give you the rest of the day to decide, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"_Losing the first challenge of the season is never a good feeling. We lost and now we have to vote someone out." Yori folded her arms. "Well, I think the choice is obvious; Mel was holding the others back on the balance beam by taking her time, so I think we should get rid of her and make her answer for it."_

"Mel was way too careful in the challenge and held the rest of you back." Yori explained.

"Does that really deserve getting voted off, though?" Chloe asked. "I always liked Mel…"

"Yeah. I mean, it's not like she actually fell off the beam, is it?" Krash added.

"It doesn't matter. She still cost us the win in the end." Yori shook her head.

"I still got real close." Krash shrugged. "I mean, I saw the box that Jack opened underwater and that was the next one I was going to open."

"_I really don't want to vote out Mel, but hey, I'm not a target tonight and I actually FELL OFF the beam." Chloe pointed out. "Maybe if I just sit back, they won't point that out at Tribal Council and I won't get blindsided."_

"Just remember that Mel is really the only target we have at the moment." Yori said. "It's best that we get rid of her now before we lose too many challenges."

Meanwhile, Molly was having a similar talk with a few of the other players, but with a very different subject.

"You want to vote out Yori?" Tempo asked. "I…Thought you guys were in an alliance or something."

"To be honest, I've just been going along with it." Molly said before turning to Mel. "To show you that I'm honest here, she's gunning for you."

"Me?" Mel asked. "Why? She…She came to ME for an alliance early on!"

"_I knew I'd likely be a target early on, but not this early. Well, if Yori thinks I'm going to take this lying down, she's got another thing coming." Mel narrowed her eyes._

Tempo held up his hands. "Why should we vote out Yori in the first place, though?" He asked. "I mean, she's one of our strongest."

"Think about this, Tempo. Yori's the only season three representative on our tribe." Molly pointed out. "Who do you think would be the biggest threats to her game?"

"Honestly? The others from her season." Tempo replied with a shrug.

"Exactly. She made the finals last time. If we don't take her out now, we may never be able to at all." Molly stated.

"_I'll admit that I got this idea from Krash. He made this off-handed comment of how weird it was that Yori was the only season three representative here and I picked up on it." Molly said. "I can spin my words to make the others see Yori as a threat. This makes it the perfect alibi to get rid of her early on without really getting my hands dirty."_

Elias looked around, and then back at Molly. "You sure it's smart to get rid of her, though? I mean, if anything, she's a goat to take to the end." He reasoned.

"That's exactly what she WANTS you to think, you wash-up." Molly said, eyes narrowed.

"She's got a point." Tempo said.

"Hmm…Maybe so." Elias noted.

"_Having studied up on the casts of previous seasons for this, I knew my biggest threats would be the big players like Yori." Tempo noted. "Maybe it IS best to get rid of her as soon as possible. Especially with that Immunity Idol hidden around here somewhere. The next time, she may find it…"_

"_This is going to be a long season." Elias sighed._

**(Tribal Council)**

The ten members of Arkos walked into Tribal Council, carrying lit torches. Finding a seat amongst the ten provided, everyone sat down to wait for things to start.

"Welcome to the first Tribal Council of the season, Arkos Tribe. That being said, I bet you were all hoping you wouldn't hear me say that so soon. In a moment, you will all be voting for someone to eliminate from the competition and reduce your team number to nine." SSBFreak said before he started asking questions. "Elias, you and the other season one players have away from this game the longest. How does it feel to be back?"

"It feels good to play the game again. Five years is a long time away from this." Elias nodded. "It could take a bit to get used to playing with newer players, but I think we can manage on experience."

"Do you think you may be at a disadvantage because you've been away the longest?"

"Not really. If anything, it makes us more-experienced and thus we know what to expect for the most part."

"Tempo, were you surprised to get this second chance?"

"For sure, but now that I have, I expect to make the most of it." Tempo nodded. "I've been studying up on the past seasons to see if the older players are playing any differently than how they did before."

Reginald blinked. "Wait. So you've basically been keeping tabs on us, then?" He asked.

"More to make sure that I don't get caught by surprise, to be honest." Tempo shrugged.

"Yori, how have things been at camp so far?" SSBFreak asked.

"For the most part, okay. We got a good camp and I've been watching people to check for forming alliances." Yori shrugged. "So far, the ones that I can tell have formed are Sandy & Krash and Chloe & Tempo."

"For future reference?" Molly asked, arms folded.

"Something like that." Yori said with a smirk.

"Gary, what's your take on the happenings at camp?" SSBFreak asked.

"Oh, I haven't really been noticing a whole lot. After all, we just started." Gary noted. "I'd probably start paying attention more a good portion into the game. The first few days of Survivor are usually just to get things off the ground before things pick up for real."

"What kind of answer were you expecting out of him?" Chloe asked the host flatly.

"Um…Sandy, what are you thinking at the moment?" SSBFreak said.

"Right now? I'm thinking about me driving a frog-shaped ATV through a desert, wearing a pink tutu, playing the bagpipes and being chased by a deranged land shark." Sandy said casually.

"So…Nothing out of the ordinary?"

"Um…Nope."

"Mel, how do you think the votes going to go?" SSBFreak asked, deciding to move on.

"I've heard my name come up before we came here, so I'm assuming that means I'm a target. I've heard that Yori was the one trying to get me out, so I decided that I need to fight to stay in the game." Mel said.

Yori's eyebrow lifted. "Wait. Who told you that?" She asked.

"It doesn't matter. Your reaction basically confirmed it, anyway." Mel said with a smirk.

"Yori, what's your reasoning?" SSBFreak asked.

"Well, Mel was holding us back at the challenge. It isn't personal, but I think that she needs to go if we're going to win any challenges." Yori shrugged.

"Even though we've only had one challenge so far?" Gary asked.

"And Mel was only playing for a third of it?" Reginald added with a smirk.

"Hey! Stop that!" Yori snapped.

"Okay. I think that's enough questions. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Molly, you're up."

Molly got up and left the hut to go vote. Walking up to the voting table with a satisfied smirk, the black-haired Minjo wrote a name down and put it into the urn.

Sandy walked up to the table and wrote a name down. Taking the time to put a little smiley face in the bottom corner, Sandy put the ballot into the urn.

Tempo walked up and wrote a name down. "Definitely not a hard choice." He admitted before voting and leaving the table.

Krash approached the table and appeared to be in thought. "How the heck do you spell her name?" He asked aloud, writing something down and voting.

Mel wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "Nothing personal, but you want me out." She said, having voted for Yori.

Gary whistled a casual tune (like usual) and wrote a name down. Satisfied with the vote, Gary put it in the urn and strolled back to the hut.

Elias walked up to the table and wrote a name down. Without taking the time to second-guess himself for his choice, Elias voted and walked back.

Chloe scribbled a name down. "Not as hard as I thought the first vote would be." The small panda admitted as she nonetheless voted and walked away.

Yori wrote a name down and turned it around, revealing Mel's name. "Looks like I'm getting some votes, but I'm sure you'll get more." She explained.

Reginald was the last to vote. The tall Rabbid walked up to the table, silently wrote a name down, put the ballot into the urn and walked away.

Once all ten players voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." SSBFreak said. No one stepped forth about the Immunity Idol, signifying that no one had found it yet. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Yori." Yori narrowed her good eye.

"Yori." Yori glanced around at the others.

"…Mel. It's 2-1." Mel bit her lip.

"…Yori. That's 3-1." Yori folded her arms.

"Yori." Molly gave a smirk.

"Yori." Yori shook her head in hopelessness. "Next vote and first person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Yori. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Yori stood up and grabbed your torch. "Well, good job. I didn't see that one coming." She admitted as she walked up to the host. "I'll be waiting for all of you to arrive at the Loser's Lounge before too long."

"Yori, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Yori's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"You'll pay for your mistake soon enough." Yori said as she walked out of Tribal Council without looking back.

Once Yori was gone, SSBFreak turned to the nine remaining Arkos players. "And so begins what is sure to be a long, rough season of Survivor. Since you're all seasoned players at this point, I'm sure most of you are expecting many blindsides. Well, if someone like Yori is booted first, you know that this is going to be a good game." He explained. "Nineteen remain, and we've only just begun. Only time will tell if booting one of your strongest first will come back to haunt you, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

The nine players stood up, grabbed their torches and left Tribal Council. Molly brought up the rear, looking satisfied. Yori thought she could control her, but Molly had just proven that was an impossible task. Now that the distraction was out of the way, it was time to start playing the game…

"_I'm shocked that my tribe decided to boot me first considering I was one of their strongest, but I guess they didn't want me to do anything behind their backs." Yori rolled her eye. "Well, Molly's even more-guilty at backstabbing than me, and they still decide to keep her. Even if they were going to keep Mel, it would have been smarter to boot Molly. They'll be paying for their decision, I can tell you that."_

**Voting History:**

**Yori – Chloe, Elias, Gary, Krash, Mel, Molly, Reginald, Sandy and Tempo**

**Mel – Yori**

Author's Notes: And so Yori is the first casualty of the new season with a unanimous vote. While the bootlist may have changed a bit throughout different versions of the story, Yori was always the first boot. I wanted a villain to be the first boot, and knew that Yori would be the best choice to go for without making too many people upset with the vote.


	3. Days 4 to 6

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"_Well, that's that. Yori's gone. It feels good to get rid of her because she spent the majority of her time trying to corner me into an alliance." Molly said with a smirk. "I managed to convince everyone else to get rid of her, and now that Yori's gone I can start actually playing the game."_

"I think that went over pretty well." Krash nodded.

Gary chuckled. "Yep. Haven't been too many unanimous votes before."

"So what now?" Krash asked. "We try to win more challenges?"

"Brilliant deduction, Krash." Reginald rolled his eyes. "However, we can't ignore the fact that we just voted out one of our strong players."

"_I was a little hesitant to voting out Yori so quickly, even though I knew that, with her track record, it probably would have been harder to get rid of her later." Reginald said. "This early in the game, however, you need to keep your good players around and I'm still unsure about the decision to keep Mel over Yori."_

"_Eh, Yori was a Negative Nancy anyway and wouldn't have been any fun to mess with." Sandy shrugged. "I'd have way more fun messing with Reggie and Elias."_

"Well, it's no big loss, right?" Sandy as brightly as she went over to Krash and squeezed one of his arm muscles. "Just look at this guy! He more than makes up for Yori!"

"Uh…" Krash said, a little uncomfortable.

Meanwhile, Tempo and Chloe were off talking, having separated from the group when they got back to camp.

"I'm glad we kept Mel, but d'ya think we made the right choice in voting out Yori?" Chloe asked.

"I think so. I watched season three a few times and I know that if we gave Yori half a chance, she'd walk all over us." Tempo replied with a nod. "Believe me, it's best that we take her out now."

"_I didn't really like Yori a whole lot. She was mean. But…She was STRONG. I'm hoping that I don't get singled out for my weakness now that we voted out a strong person." Chloe folded her arms. "Tempo seems unfazed by this, but why would he? He's not the one that people will target for being weak!"_

"Look, we'll need to roll with things for now, and we'll get the chance to make a move." Tempo pointed out. "From the looks of things, Sandy's getting friendly with Krash, so we could bring them both into an alliance and suddenly have four of us."

"Oh! Okay, that's a great idea!" Chloe nodded. "We have a chance to get the advantage!"

"Of course, but we need to lay low for a bit so we don't attract attention."

The tribe decided to go to sleep, feeling a little worn out after Tribal Council.

**(Xon Tribe; Day 4)**

"Where the heck did she go?" Barney asked, looking around the camp as he walked from one end to the other.

"What's up, Barney?" Edwina asked as she came over.

"Anita's vanished again. She wasn't in the shelter when we woke up and we haven't seen her all morning." Barney folded his arms. "You haven't seen her, have you?"

"No, I haven't." Edwina shook her head. "Boy, this is serious. Where did she go?"

"I'm more curious as to why she seems to be vanishing in the first place."

"_Erica and Anita joined Inferno and I to form a big alliance, but we haven't been seeing Anita for a lot these past couple of days. It's a little unnerving, to be honest." Barney sighed. "I know Anita isn't one to try anything behind our backs, but the fact that she's not around worries me."_

"_Anita hasn't been screaming because of the nightmares like she did back in her season, so that means that she's getting better." Edwina pointed out. "However, there seems to be a new problem surfacing because she vanishes from camp…Man, what I wouldn't do to have Ruth around right now."_

"I'll go and see if Renaldo's seen her." Edwina said. "He's been perched up on the higher ledge for a while."

"Sounds like a plan."

Meanwhile, Kendall was down by a group of trees, collecting some fruit with Jack. The white monkey appeared to be listening to Jack talking.

"Okay, for starters, we need to make sure that the others don't see us as threats." Jack explained.

"I know that. That's what I did back in my season and it got me to fifth." Kendall said. "The only thing that stopped me was that there was a big alliance that outnumbered me."

"Really?...Hmm…Maybe it's best that we focus on taking out alliances first, then."

"_I'm having fun making up stuff about my season, such as how the reason I was eliminated was because there was a big alliance. Jack, the idiot he is, seems to be buying it." Kendall noted. "If I can lead him on and get him to do what I need him to do, at the very least he'd take the fall should something go wrong."_

"You see any real alliances getting formed, yet?" Kendall asked.

"Well, Edwina and Renaldo appear to be the most-obvious." Jack pointed out. "Barney and Inferno seem to have aligned as well."

"Then why not focus on them for now?"

"That's probably a good idea, but it'd be stupid to vote for Barney or Inferno this early." Jack reminded. "We'd have more luck getting people to vote for Edwina and Renaldo."

"_Kendall seems to have some good ideas, so I'll try implementing them. If the goal's to take attention off us, we need a motive to get rid of the others." Jack said. "I think the two of us could go far if we lay low and get the others to focus on each other, at which point, we'll already be at the merge and ready to take control of the game."_

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 4)**

"_I've noticed that there appears to be some small alliances getting formed, and I know that they may end up turning into one big one." Reginald explained. "I lost the game last time because I feel I wasn't playing the game aggressively enough, but if I can get into control, I think I can get the better of everyone else."_

Gary, Elias, Mel and Molly were gathered around as Reginald started talking. "I suppose that it's no secret at this point that the others have formed some alliances." He explained. "Let's be honest: We need to combat it."

"So what? Form one big alliance?" Mel asked, arms folded. "Look around you, Reggie."

"Reginald! Stop imitating Sandy!"

"Look, we have you, me, Elias and Molly. None of us trusts each other." Mel explained. "How much good do you actually expect to come from this?"

"Yeah. The three of us weren't exactly on the best of terms and we all know how trustworthy Molly is." Elias agreed.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Molly said flatly.

"Mel, none of us will have a chance if we don't join forces." Reginald said sternly. "At least if the five of us join up, we outnumber the other four."

"_I don't like joining up with sourpusses like Reginald and Elias, but it looks like I really don't have a choice at the moment." Mel sighed. "Why did I get separated from Barney? At least THEN I could align with someone I know wouldn't be liable to stab me in the back later on."_

"_I'm trying to sit back and let others make the moves this time since that appears to be what killed my chances last time." Elias explained. "If Reginald is taking the lead here, I won't be blamed for his mistakes, and if he tries to pass the buck to me, I'll simply say I had nothing to do with him."_

"Am I seriously the only one here that people trust, then?" Gary asked, looking around.

"Pretty much. Why? You having second thoughts?" Reginald asked.

"Meh, not really. I'd probably just let you guys do the planning, anyway." Gary shrugged.

"Okay, it sounds like a plan." Molly nodded. "At least for now, we'll join up."

"Good to see that you're on board." Reginald said with a smirk.

"_Anyone else probably would use my situation to their advantage, because if they trust me, then that would give me an easier time out here." Gary reminded. "But…That's not who I am. I'm having a good time and I'm certainly not going to backstab the others unless they try to do the same to me first."_

While the five were talking, two distinct figures watched from the bushes, one in determination and the other in confusion.

"…Why are we watching them again?" Krash asked.

"They're in league with the sand weavals." Sandy hissed. "Come, young ward. We must fall back and regroup or else we could wake up without our spleens."

"Man…I like my spleen…"

**(Xon Tribe)**

"So no sign of Anita?" Edwina asked as she and Renaldo sat on a ledge.

"No. Believe me, I've been looking." Renaldo said.

"That's weird. Notice anything else, though?" Edwina asked.

Renaldo appeared to blush, but managed to hide it. "Um…I've seen Jack and Kendall hanging around each other." He said.

"Didn't Erica say that Kendall was no good, though?"

"That's what I was thinking."

"_Hmm…This could have me worried. If Kendall's as good at the game as Erica says he is, this could be a real problem." Edwina noted. "And since Jack is so incompetent, it could very well be likely that Kendall is trying to lead him on…"_

"So what do we do?" Renaldo said. "If we don't do anything, we're screwed."

"You're still haven't changed, Renaldo." Edwina laughed. "But don't worry about it. We should be able to get in good with another alliance."

"I wish I had some of your optimism…"

"Hey, don't worry about it. That's why I befriended you last season anyway." Edwina assured.

_Renaldo nervously fidgeted for a few seconds before sighing. "Okay, FINE. I've got a bit of a crush on Edwina, okay? That's part of the reason I sacrificed myself back in our season." He admitted. "But I know I've got no chance. Look at me; I'm pessimistic, a gun-for-hire and I'm likely just holding her back from her potential."_

"Any sign of Anita yet, you two?" Erica said as she climbed up the path leading to the ledge the Opti-Pessi Alliance was sitting on.

"No. I've been up here for a while and I haven't seen any sign of her." Renaldo shook his head.

"Where the heck is she? This is the second time she's up and vanished on us…" Erica sighed. "Well, let me know if you see her, okay?"

"Of course." Edwina nodded.

"_Barney and Inferno are getting a little antsy that one of their alliance members isn't around to talk to. It's making me worried as well." Erica said. "I obviously trust her more than the guys do, though. It's too bad because I was really hoping to get along with a lot of the people here…"_

Unknown to everyone else, there was another flash of light at the base of the ledge the trio were on. Once the light vanished, Anita had materialized again, looking terrified and splattered with what looked like blood.

"_I…I don't understand…I'm shifting…WHY AM I SHIFTING?!" Anita cried, still looking terrified. "This…This island doesn't have anything to DO with Cabadath or John Dafoe or the Order of Blessed Agonies!..." Anita trailed off as she looked at the camera with wide eyes. "…Does it?"_

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"Huh?! An alliance of five?!" Chloe asked in shock.

Krash scratched his head. "That's what it sounded like." He said.

"_Sandy dragged me over to listen in on the others talking and we overheard them getting into an alliance. I may not be good with numbers, but that's gotta be more than half the tribe." Krash shook his head. "Sandy mentioned Tempo and Chloe coming to her for an alliance, so we decided to see if we could do anything about it."_

"_Ugh! Why does this happen?! Are they unaffected by my cuteness or something? Every time I look, I'm always at some kind of disadvantage." Chloe said. "I'm hoping we can work our way around it this time, because I really don't want to spend the game fighting for my life out here."_

"Hmm…This isn't good." Tempo sighed. "Our only chance at outsmarting them is to find that Immunity Idol."

"Oh! I can sniff it out!" Sandy said, shooting her arm into the air.

"_I wasn't able to sniff out the idol back on my first season because by that point it had already been found." Sandy explained. "Now that we know that there's an idol here, I can try again and snoop around to see what I can find out. Just like Scooby Doo!...Jinkies!"_

"And I found the idol on my first trip to Exile back in my season!" Chloe said happily. "I'm sure I can find it again!"

Sandy tilted her head and looked down at Chloe. "Are you SURE you're not a sand weaval?"

"Sandy…What exactly IS a 'sand weaval'?" Tempo asked.

Sandy was silent. "I dunno. I've never seen them before." She admitted before getting right in Tempo's face. "But that doesn't mean they don't exist! I KNOW they do!"

"I…Uh…Didn't say they didn't." Tempo insisted.

Sandy instantly pulled away from Tempo. "Okay!"

"_Sandy stills weirds me out. I'm still confused as to how she lasted so long back in season one, but at this point, I pretty much need to align with her." Tempo folded his arms. "Still, if we can get the idol before the others do, we've got a chance."_

"You think Mel or Gary would jump ship and join us if we asked?" Krash asked.

Tempo shook his head. "Gary's more-likely to stick with the people he aligns with at the start. He's too nice of a guy to turn on an alliance." He explained.

"Mel might be a good choice, though!" Chloe piped up.

"Yeah. Depends on what her opinions are of the others." Tempo nodded.

"Then let's get cracking!" Sandy said, grabbing Krash by the arm. "Come, my muscled terrapin friend! To the Batcave!"

With that, Sandy bounded off, pulling the taller Krash along like a ragdoll. Tempo and Chloe looked at each other, wondering what they had just gotten themselves into.

"…Terrapins are turtles." Chloe pointed out.

"I know."

The two tribes decided to go to bed, expecting that there would be a challenge the following day.

**(Xon Tribe; Day 5)**

"_It was really weird yesterday. Anita suddenly reappears again and the first thing we see her doing is scrubbing herself down at the water." Barney said. "I could see blood on her, and I REALLY hope she isn't doing anything to herself when she isn't around. I'd hate to think that those scars of hers are self-inflicted…"_

"You sure you're okay, Anita?" Barney asked.

"Y-Yeah. I swear that blood wasn't mine." Anita shook her head.

Inferno lifted his shades slightly. "…That does little to make me feel better." He commented.

"You're not helping any." Erica scolded.

"_The four of us are calling ourselves the Cross Alliance because there's one person from each season in it." Inferno said. "Still, Anita isn't really helping us any, even if she's not meaning any harm. The fact that she isn't around a lot sorta defeats the purpose of strategizing with her."_

Meanwhile, Charlotte was watching the scene from afar. Grace saw this and came over. "Something tells me that I know what you're thinking." Grace said.

"Comrade, are you not suspicious of how Anita keeps vanishing without warning?" Charlotte asked. "Even her friends don't know where she goes."

Grace folded her arms. "I wonder about it, sure." She said suspiciously. "Why? What's on your mind?"

"Do you know how easy it would be to convince the others that she's planning something behind our backs?" Charlotte asked with a smirk.

"No! That's a terrible idea and I'm not having any part of it!" Grace insisted.

"_I got in serious trouble last time because of my lack of social skills. If I try to accuse someone like Anita of doing something behind everyone's backs, there's no way in heck anyone would believe me." Grace said firmly. "Doing that would just isolate me from everyone else and this early in the competition that's the LAST thing I want."_

"_I see this as an opportunity that might pay off to take. Anita's a well-liked person, which makes her a threat in the long run." Charlotte said. "If we can come up with a logical reason to get rid of her early on, we'll have an easier time with the game later."_

"Charlotte, I swear that if you try this then it'll come back to haunt you." Grace said. "Take it from me!"

"I feel you worry too much, comrade." Charlotte assured.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 5)**

Reginald watched as he saw Sandy walking around camp on all fours, sniffing the ground as she went. Although he had a feeling why she was doing it, Reginald decided to ask anyway. "What are you doing NOW?" He asked.

"I'm trying to look for that hidden idol, Reggie." Sandy replied. "I know I'm close."

"Yes, because we ALL know you're secretly half-bloodhound." Reginald rolled his eyes. "And stop calling me Reggie!"

"Only when you stop being such a putz about it." Sandy said with a smirk.

"_Sandy's a complete lunatic, but I can't ignore the fact that she's looking for the idol, or at least trying to distract everyone else while one of her friends looks for it." Reginald folded his arms. "I need to start searching for it myself since we were told we're not getting any hints as to where it is."_

"_My nose has never failed me before!...Well, except for when I'm sick with a head cold, but that doesn't count!" Sandy insisted. "I can find that idol this time and I WILL…Unless someone decides to bribe me with a bologna sandwich, that is."_

Gary came wandering over and saw Reginald searching around some trees. "I take it you're looking for the idol?" He asked.

"Of course I am. I just saw Sandy looking for it, so that means she and her friends are all trying to find it." Reginald said. "Why aren't you looking for it, anyway?"

Gary gave a shrug. "Don't really need it yet." He replied. "I mean, if I stumble upon it, then I'll take it."

"You need to learn to take things more-seriously, my friend." Reginald said, eyes narrowed.

"_Reginald reminds me a lot of Erica from back in my season, and by that I mean he reminds her of how she USED to be instead of that fangirl she's become." Gary pointed out. "He's kinda grouchy, but I know his heart's in the right place…Or at least, I THINK so…"_

In the meantime, Chloe was walking around, also looking for the idol. It was clear that she wasn't having much luck.

"Man. It's a lot harder when you don't have any clues to help you." Chloe said to herself as she looked in a bush. "Finding the idol on Exile was way easier than this…"

Sandy suddenly poked her head up from behind the bush, startling Chloe. "Welcome to my world, punk!" She said brightly before vanishing again.

**(Xon Tribe)**

"_If I'm to lobby to get Anita voted out before she becomes a threat, I need to go to the people she hasn't been talking with." Charlotte explained. "That basically means I need to pitch my case to Jack, Kendall, Edwina and Renaldo."_

"Wait. Why the heck would you want to vote out Anita?" Edwina asked.

"Think about it, comrade." Charlotte explained. "The way she's been vanishing from camp doesn't seem suspicious?"

"I think it's weird. I don't suspect anything." Renaldo insisted.

"I'm in." Kendall said simply.

Jack did a double-take. "Wait! When did I agree to that?!" He demanded.

"Think about it. It's probably for the best, anyway." Kendall shrugged.

Jack paused, then sighed. "Yeah. You're probably right." He admitted.

"Good." Charlotte said with a smirk. "Believe me, this is for the best of the tribe."

"_Heck, any chance I get to screw over someone, I'll take it. Anita's basically dead weight to the team anyway." Kendall said. "And then, after she goes, I can rub it in the faces of her alliance. So much for their numbers advantage, eh?"_

Later on, Edwina and Renaldo walked over to Anita, who was down by the beach, to tell her what was happening.

"Just so you know, Anita? Charlotte's lobbying to get you voted out." Edwina said.

"Huh?! But why?!" Anita asked.

"She's a little suspicious as to why you're been vanishing from camp." Renaldo rubbed his head. "None of us know where you're going."

"I…I can't say…"

"We're not asking you where you're going, Anita." Edwina supplied. "We just wanted to give you the heads-up."

"_Sure, the disappearances may seem a little weird, but I really don't think there's much to it. Anita's got her reasons, I guess." Renaldo shrugged. "Besides, if it's something serious, I don't really wanna get involved. I deal with enough crap back home…"_

"_It's not my fault that I vanish from camp! I literally have no say in the matter!...Man, I wish I could get…" Anita trailed off when she started breathing a little heavier. "Oh, no…It's happening again!" She looked at the cameraman frantically. "Quick! Give me the camera!" Anita lunged at the cameraman and grabbed at it just as everything went white…_

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"_I need to form a concrete alliance since I feel that I'm on borrowed time if I don't do something. Because I don't like Elias and Reginald, and Gary's way too nice for my tastes, that leaves me with Mel." Molly said. "Maybe I can sway her with some words, because I know that she's not the timid girl she was before."_

"Wait. Why would you want to form an alliance with me, of all people?" Mel asked.

"Mel, I don't think you can deny it; We're both targets and threats." Molly explained. "We may have an alliance with the others, but I want something more-concrete before we both get the boot."

Mel appeared to be in thought. "I really don't know if I can trust you, though." She said.

"You're going to have to, because there's no way Elias and Reginald will let you near the merge."

Mel sighed. "Yeah. You're right about that."

"_If there's one bad thing that's come from me gaining self-confidence, it's that it makes me a big threat out here. This will be sure to make me a target early on like I was a couple of days ago." Mel said. "I may not like Molly, and I'm sure she doesn't like me either, but at the moment it looks like neither of us really have a choice."_

"Okay. You want an alliance?" Mel asked. "For now, it's a deal."

"That's fine. It's good to see that you're open to possibilities." Molly said.

Krash was swimming around in the water to see if the idol was buried in the sand underneath the waves. So far, he hadn't been having much luck.

"I think I'm out on a wild goose chase out here." Krash said to himself as he swam around.

"That makes two of us."

Krash looked to his side and saw Elias swimming with him, also trying to find the idol in the water.

"What's YOUR excuse?" Krash asked.

"It was either this or search near the fire pit, and with Sandy scouring the place, I feel this is the safest place to search." Elias said simply.

"_I was with her for an entire season. I, of all people, should know better than to get in Sandy's way when she's looking for something." A soaking-wet Elias shrugged._

**(Unknown Location)**

Anita walked along the beach, alone and with the stolen camera in hand. The place she was at looked exactly like her tribe's camp, except that it looked like it had come out of a horror movie.

Dead, decaying bodies were strewn about, complete with some dismembered body parts laying on the ground. The sky was a dark shade or orange, with no clouds or even sun in the sky. A wind was heard blowing, but not a breeze was felt. Blood was splattered and smeared everywhere, along the ground, on the rocks and across the trees. There was even a small shelter set up like the one her tribe had built, but the stench coming from it kept Anita too scared to go near it.

_After looking around with the camera, Anita turned the camera on herself. "This…This is what happens when I shift. There are t-two worlds here, identical in looks but completely-different otherwise." She explained, looking scared. "Trilby s-said that he went through a nightmare like this once, but now that I'm experiencing it myself…I'm scared…"_

"But why is this happening?!" Anita demanded out loud, despite that there was no one (alive) to hear her. "The only time someone from my world shifts between worlds is when we're at a place where there was some demonic activity involving beings like Cabadath!"

Anita used the camera to scan around. "I r-really hope this camera is seeing this. If I'm the only one that can see the world like this, they'll think I'm c-crazy!" She said.

After a little bit, Anita put down the camera, satisfied, and reached into her pocket, pulling out a bottle of pills.

"_This…This is my luxury item: A bottle of tranquilizer pills. The only way for me to get back to the real world is to slow down my heart rate." Anita explained. "Trilby gave me the suggestion to bring them even though I said I wouldn't need them. Now, I'm really thankful I listened to him."_

Anita popped a couple of tranquilizer pills into her mouth and waited, grabbing the camera. After a few moments, a flash of light occurred, and when it did, Anita was back in the real world, standing in the same place she was in the other world. Seeing that she was back, Anita took several deep breaths to calm her nerves.

"I'm…I'm never going to get used to that." Anita breathed.

"Oh! Anita, you're back again!"

Anita turned to see Erica come running over, looking relieved. "Where the heck did you go this time?!" She demanded.

Anita sighed as she held the camera she had taken. "You wouldn't believe me unless I showed you…" She said. "…And I don't think you're ready for it…"

The two teams decided to go to bed after Anita delivered the camera back to the still-stunned cameraman that had seen her vanish in front of him. Since they didn't have a challenge this day, they knew there would be one the next…

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 6)**

"_Well, we didn't have a challenge yesterday, which confirms that there's going to be one today. The lack of challenge time has given us more time to search for the idol, though." Reginald shrugged. "Still, I'm going to need some help out here, and I feel I know just who to go to first…"_

"The three of us need to form an alliance." Reginald said to Mel and Gary. "Gary's a physical threat while Mel and I are mental threats."

"So we'd basically be targeted early then?" Gary asked.

"I don't doubt it." Reginald shook his head. "Everyone's familiar with how we play the game and we booted Yori because she was too much of a threat."

"Yeah. What's stopping the others from ganging up on us?" Mel asked.

"Absolutely nothing. That's the problem."

"_I know Reginald and he's a big sneak underneath that fuzzy white fur coat of his, so I know to take what he says with a grain of salt." Mel folded her arms with a smirk. "That being said, I'm already aligned with Molly. Now I'm faced with choosing which alliance to stick with or if I should try to play both sides…"_

"How far did your alliance get in your season, Gary?" Mel asked.

"All three of us made the merge." Gary shrugged. "Erica finished third and I finished second."

"Then we just need to copy what your alliance managed to pull off and we'd be off to a good start." Reginald smirked.

"_I feel pretty good about joining Mel and Reginald. If they need my help, I'll gladly give it to them." Gary supplied. "Sure, there's just the three of us, but if we can find that idol before the others, we've got a chance at staying around and evening the odds."_

"We can has treemail!" Sandy announced as she came into camp with a letter.

"Took long enough." Elias noted.

"Yeah. What're we up against this time, Sandy?" Tempo asked.

"It's asking us if we can throw boomerangs! Awesome!" Sandy cheered.

"An accuracy challenge with BOOMERANGS?!" Chloe asked. "Aw, man! Those things are impossible to throw!"

"I'm sure that's what they want." Elias folded his arms. "At least we'd be on equal ground for the most part."

"But the other tribe can sit someone out." Tempo sighed. "We may be at a disadvantage here."

"_I'm a parody of a JAPANESE cartoon; Not Australian! Do I LOOK like I know how to throw a boomerang?" Chloe asked flatly._

**(Xon Tribe; Day 6)**

"_Charlotte's trying to get Anita out, and while I agree that she'll be a huge threat later in the game, I can't give myself a big target right off the bat." Grace shook her head. "Charlotte is probably saying that I'm in on her idea, and I want to make sure that's not the case. Luckily, I have a friend here that trusts me."_

"So why does Charlotte want to get rid of Anita, man?" Inferno asked.

"Because she insists that Anita will become a huge threat later on." Grace said. "Look, I'm not saying that I don't agree with her, but I'm not dumb enough to make myself a target this early."

"Yeah. Booting her this early is asking for retribution." Inferno noted.

"_I like Anita, man. There's no way I'd get rid of her this early…What? No, I…I don't like her like that, man! I-I'm, like, SEVEN YEARS OLDER than her, for crying out loud!" Inferno insisted. "…Crap. My sister's NEVER going to let me live that one down. The last time I ran my mouth, she constantly reminded me about it for a year…"_

"How is Anita, anyway?" Grace asked.

"She's been getting more and more distant with each day." Inferno shrugged. "Erica's probably the most-worried about her. I kinda think it's because Anita's one of her favourite past players."

"Looks like we've got some treemail." Barney said as he walked into camp.

"Sweet. It's about time." Jack said with a smirk. "What's the challenge?"

"Looks like it involves boomerangs…" Barney lifted an eyebrow. "Are…They expecting us to throw a boomerang properly?"

Edwina sighed. "Can ANYONE throw a boomerang properly?" She asked.

Most of the tribe looked uneasy, but Renaldo silently held up a disembodied hand. "Um…I can." He said.

"Oh! Great!" Edwina said. "Maybe we've got a shot at this, then!"

"And we can sit someone else out at the same time!" Erica added. "So…Who's not so good with a boomerang?"

"_I think I've got a bit of an advantage in the challenge because I'm skilled with all sorts of means to kill someone. This gives me near-perfect accuracy with thrown objects." Renaldo said, prodding his fingers together. "Um…This is probably going to sound a little weird, but I've…Uh…DISMEMBERED people by throwing a boomerang before…"_

"_I still don't get how such a worrywart is a killing machine…" Barney shrugged._

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The Xon Tribe stood on their mat in the middle of a clearing, waiting for the challenge to start. The Arkos Tribe's mat was currently empty.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the Arkos Tribe." SSBFreak explained as the pink tribe emerged from the jungle and walked over to their mat. People saw that a familiar cyborg wasn't with them. "Yori was voted out at Tribal Council."

This seemed to be a pleasant surprise to the rest of the season three representatives. "She was probably asking for it." Inferno shrugged as the Arkos Tribe stepped onto their mat.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will be testing your throwing skills with something that's meant to return to you." SSBFreak explained. People noticed that there was a line of distance markers behind the host. "You will be pitted against each other in one-on-one matchups, and the goal is to simply throw your boomerang farther than your opponent. Keep in mind that the goal is to get the most distance and not to get the boomerang to come back to you. Whoever throws their boomerang the farthest of the two will score a point for their team, and the first team to win five of nine rounds will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

The tribes looked at each other. This challenge seemed straightforward, but simply throwing a boomerang was going to be a chore in itself.

"Xon Tribe, you have one extra person." SSBFreak said. "Who's sitting out?"

"I will." Kendall said with a light smirk.

"Okay. If you're all ready, we can begin. We just need you to choose your team's orders…" SSBFreak explained.

**(Later…)**

The first matchup was Reginald vs. Edwina. The two looked at each other, sizing their opponent up despite the fact that Reginald was almost twice as tall as Edwina was.

"The first matchup is Reginald vs. Edwina." SSBFreak said. "You can both go whenever, and you can throw at the same time."

The two quickly threw their boomerangs, but it was clear who the better thrower was. Reginald's boomerang glided through the air for several yards while Edwina's flopped down uselessly a few feet in front of her.

"That one wasn't even close. Reginald gets the first point for the Arkos Tribe." SSBFreak explained.

"I've never gotten used to throwing those things." Edwina shook her head.

Next up were Mel and Charlotte. The two glanced at each other, but not for longer than a second.

"The next matchup is Mel vs. Charlotte." SSBFreak said. "You can go whenever."

The two women threw their boomerangs out, showing the others that this would be a closer match as the two boomerangs flew through the air. However, Mel's boomerang hit the ground just a few feet back from where Charlotte's eventually landed.

"Charlotte scores Xon's first point and evens the score." SSBFreak explained.

"All too easy." Charlotte said with a smirk.

Krash scratched his head as he examined the boomerang in his hand. Erica was beside him, looking a little more-confident.

"Next is Krash vs. Erica." SSBFreak said.

The two contestants hurled their boomerangs out. Krash's boomerang quickly banked to the side and his tribe had to comically duck to avoid getting hit (although Sandy caught it with her teeth). Erica's boomerang, while definitely not going very far, still landed further than where Krash's had ended up going.

"Erica gives Xon a 2-1 lead." SSBFreak said.

"That's a load off my shoulders." Erica sighed in relief.

"Watch where you're throwing that thing, Krash!" Tempo said.

"How the heck am I supposed to THROW that thing?!" Krash asked aloud.

Gary and Barney were up next. Gary was whistling a tune as he examined the boomerang while Barney lifted an eyebrow at the laid-back older man.

"Next is Gary vs. Barney." SSBFreak explained.

The two strongmen hurled their boomerangs out, hoping to outlast the other. Gary's calm demeanor conveyed to his boomerang, as it flew several yards through the air and landed gracefully while Barney's crashed about ten feet from where he had thrown it.

"Again, not a very close one. Gary ties it up for Arkos at 2-2." SSBFreak said.

"How'd you do that?" Barney asked.

"Do what?" Gary asked back.

Next was Tempo and Jack. Jack seemed a little confident, but Tempo didn't look intimidated by the koopa's look (mainly because he couldn't see Jack's eyes through his shades).

"Next is Tempo vs. Jack."

Again, the two contestants lashed out and threw their boomerangs. It appeared to be a close match, as the boomerangs seemed to be flying forward easily. However, everyone was caught by surprise when the two boomerangs hit each other in midair and crashed to the ground. Closer inspection showed that Tempo's had hit the ground just inches farther than Jack's.

"Looks like Tempo edged it out. He gives Arkos a 3-2 lead."

"Hey! No fair!" Jack said. "Our boomerangs hit each other in midair!"

"That's the risk of the challenge." SSBFreak shrugged. Jack sighed.

Sandy and Renaldo were next. Sandy was, like usual, grinning in anticipation and she still held Krash's boomerang in her teeth. Renaldo appeared to be confused at this, although it was hard to tell because of his lack of a face.

"Next is Sandy vs. Renaldo."

Sandy quickly threw her boomerang out, which crashed just a few feet away. By the time it did, Renaldo had already thrown his boomerang, which surprised everyone by traveling the farthest of anyone's throws thus far. The boomerang traveled most of the distance of the marker lane and touched down.

"That was a complete blowout. Renaldo ties it at 3."

"Where'd you learn to throw like that?" Barney asked as Renaldo came over.

"Don't ask." Renaldo said flatly.

Elias looked over at Inferno, his opponent. The actor gave a sigh. "This isn't going to end well." He said.

"Next is Elias vs. Inferno."

The two threw their boomerangs out. Elias was expecting Inferno to blow him out of the water, but he looked surprised when he saw the two boomerangs relatively close. Inferno lifted his shades in surprise when he saw his boomerang hit the ground first. Elias' had traveled a few feet further before doing the same.

"Elias brings the Arkos Tribe to a 4-3 lead."

"…How the heck?" Inferno asked aloud.

"Believe me, I'm just as surprised as you are." Elias said flatly.

The next duo was Molly and Grace. Grace felt a little bit pressured considering that it was now down to her to keep her tribe in the game.

"Next is Molly vs. Grace, and Grace needs to win this to keep her tribe alive. Otherwise, the Arkos Tribe wins." SSBFreak explained.

This seemed to give Molly a little more confidence, and when the two boomerangs were thrown, they stayed pretty much align with each other. The two quickly started going down though, and in the end, Grace's purple boomerang touched the ground first while Molly's pink one hit the ground and skipped once for a bit of added distance.

"It's not enough! Molly's has gone farther! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak said. "Arkos wins Immunity!"

"That was a little closer than I would have liked." Molly sighed in relief as her tribe cheered in victory.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Arkos Tribe. You are all safe from elimination and will be around at least a few more days." SSBFreak said before turning to the losing tribe. "Xon Tribe, I'll be seeing you all tonight at Tribal Council, where you will vote out one of your own. It's up to you to decide which among you should be cut first and have their second chance at the game end prematurely. I'll give you the rest of the day to make your decision, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Xon Tribe)**

"Well, that didn't go very well." Erica sighed.

"It got pretty close, though." Barney noted. "Now we need to decide who to vote out."

"Um…If Charlotte's gunning for me, how about we go after her?" Anita piped up.

"_I'm almost relieved that I didn't get to throw in the challenge, because that would have meant that the others would be relying on me and I probably would have blown it." Anita sighed. "That being said, Charlotte's intent on getting rid of me, so we need to cut her off before she can do it."_

"We'd just need to people for the majority, man." Inferno said. "You think we can get Edwina and Renaldo to vote with us?"

"I'd say it's pretty likely since they were the ones to come to us about Charlotte wanting Anita out in the first place." Barney smirked.

"_I'm glad I'm not a target this early, but I'd like to help out my alliance members and Anita is no exception. I'd be willing to eliminate Charlotte if it gives us the edge." Barney shrugged. "When I watched season two, Charlotte kinda made me a little uneasy anyway, so it's not like I'd feel especially bad about voting her out."_

"I hope we can get through this." Erica said. "I don't want to be faced with a minority over some stupid rumours of Anita vanishing."

Anita looked down. "Yeah. Rumours..."

Meanwhile, Charlotte was doing a little pitching of her own, this time to Grace, Jack and Kendall. The others seemed to be letting her do the talking.

"So we're all in agreement that Anita needs to go, right?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm all for it." Kendall said. "Best to take her out before she becomes a threat, after all."

"I still feel bad about it, though." Jack pointed out.

"And I think this is a stupid idea." Grace folded her arms.

"Jack, we may not get another chance like this." Charlotte said.

"_Losing the challenge has given us a chance to eliminate Anita before she becomes a threat. The last thing I want is her coasting through the game because people feel sorry for her." Charlotte folded her arms. "She could dominate at the end if she is let that far, so I need to take her out now while I've got the chance."_

"_Honestly, I'm having a ball. These idiots are choosing to either vote off a physical threat or someone everyone likes, completely ignoring me altogether." Kendall said with a smirk. "If I can get the others to vote like this more-often, I've got an easy ride to the merge at the very least. I don't know which side I'm voting for tonight, but I'm leaning more towards voting for Anita just to keep things interesting."_

"Keep in mind, Charlotte, that I'm only voting with you because I think you're right." Grace reminded. "I want nothing to do with taking credit for this idea."

"That's fine with me." Charlotte shrugged.

Meanwhile, Edwina and Renaldo were perched up on one of the ledges in camp, looking down at the two groups discussing things.

"Looks like it's up to us to decide the vote." Renaldo noted.

"Yep, and I'm loving the feeling." Edwina said with a chuckle.

**(Tribal Council)**

The ten members of the Xon Tribe entered Tribal Council, carrying lit torches. Like the previous council, there were ten seats available, which the tribe sat down on as they waited for council to commence.

"Welcome to your first Tribal Council, Xon Tribe. It was only a matter of time before everyone came to Tribal Council, and here you are. In a moment, you will be voting one of your own out of the game as the first casualty for your tribe." SSBFreak explained before he decided to start asking questions. "Erica, how are things at camp so far?"

"They're going real well and I'm excited to be playing the game with the rest of the All Stars!" Erica said. "I seem to be getting along with most of the people, which is a good thing, but there are a few bad apples that I think we could do without."

"Such as?"

"Kendall."

Kendall looked offended. "You sure know how to make a good impression, Erica. Why are you casting blame like that?" He asked.

"You can't play innocent, Kendall. As long as I'm here, I'm determined to expose you for the snake you are."

"Jack, what has the tribe been like so far?" SSBFreak asked.

"There's a bit of hostility, for sure." Jack shrugged. "I'm personally trying to avoid it as much as I can and kinda just let stuff happen."

"We all know you, Jack. You're really planning otherwise." Charlotte said with a smirk.

"Hey! This isn't your question, Charlotte!" Jack snapped. "But for the most part, it's good. I can't really complain about the team I'm on."

"Grace, do you think you're at a disadvantage when it comes to the season four players?" SSBFreak asked.

"The only disadvantage we have is that we don't know how the new players have been playing." Grace replied simply. "While I'd like to believe Erica with her accusations against Kendall, we just don't know until we get a good ways into the contest."

"Anita, we've noticed that you've been vanishing a lot." SSBFreak said. "Heck, you spooked our cameraman by vanishing in the middle of your confessional. Any particular reason why?"

"…I can't control it. If I could, I would, and I really don't know why this is happening." Anita sighed. "But…Have you looked at the footage on the camera I borrowed?"

"I haven't personally, but our editors have and they've been looking pretty mortified lately."

Anita gave a sigh in relief. "Then I'm not crazy." She said. The others looked at each other in slight surprise.

"Edwina, how do you think the vote will go tonight? The tribe looks pretty split." SSBFreak said.

"It appears to be between Anita and Charlotte." Edwina replied, arms folded. "Charlotte wants Anita out and Anita's fighting to stay in."

Charlotte looked a bit surprised at this. "Something you want to add, Charlotte?" SSBFreak asked.

"I'm surprised I'm a target, to be honest." Charlotte replied. "I suppose my targeting Anita would get me some votes, but I assure you, it's because Anita will become a huge threat later on."

"Barney, what's your take on all this?"

"It has me a little concerned, especially seeing that the other tribe got rid of Yori first." Barney explained. "I realize now that I've got to play as hard as I can even to make it to the merge if physical strength isn't valued as much now."

"Well, I think that's enough questions. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Inferno, you're up."

Inferno got up and left the hut to go vote. The blue-haired man approached the table, wrote a name down and voted. "I hope we get the votes." He said as he left.

Renaldo approached the table and scribbled a name down. "Not as hard of a choice as I first thought." He shrugged as he voted and walked away.

Jack walked up to the table, looking a little down. He nevertheless wrote a name down and walked away as silently as he had come.

Erica was looking determined as she wrote a name down. "There's no WAY I'm voting for Anita." She said, having voted for Charlotte.

Charlotte wrote a name down and turned it, revealing Anita's name. "Consider this a compliment, Anita." She said as she voted and walked away.

Edwina was smirking as she wrote a name down. "I know exactly how the vote's going, now." She said as she wrote a name down and left for the hut again.

Anita walked up to the table and wrote a name down. "It's either you or me, and I'm not leaving because of something out of my control." She said, having voted for Charlotte.

Grace was looking a little guilty, like Jack, but she still wrote a name down. Placing the ballot into the urn, Grace turned and walked away again.

Kendall gave a smirk as he voted and turned his ballot around. "Either way, it'll be interesting." He shrugged, showing that he had voted for Anita.

Barney was the last to vote. The strongman approached the table and wrote a name down before shoving it into the jar and walking back to the hut.

Once all ten players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. If anyone had the idol, they decided not to play it. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Anita." Anita bit her lip.

"Anita. She leads with 2." Anita remained silent, but looked a little edgy.

"…Charlotte." Charlotte looked neutral.

"…Anita. It's 3-1." Anita took a deep breath.

"Charlotte." Charlotte glanced around.

"Charlotte. It's tied at 3." Now Charlotte was starting to look nervous.

"Anita. It's 4-3." Anita fidgeted visibly.

"Charlotte. It's tied at 4." The two in question exchanged glances.

"…Charlotte." Charlotte's eyes widened in surprise. "Last vote and second person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Charlotte. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Charlotte looked mad, but stood up and grabbed her torch. "Congratulations. You've kept the major threat and will doom yourselves if she lasts any longer." She warned as she approached the host.

"Charlotte, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Charlotte's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Mark my words. You'll regret it." Charlotte said as she marched out of Tribal Council and vanished.

Once Charlotte was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining nine players. "And so ends your first Tribal Council and Charlotte is the first from your team to take the fall. It's unknown if she saw that coming, but it's too late for her now." He explained. "Eighteen remain, and you're now one step closer to the million dollar prize that you missed out of last time. Only time will tell who the next person to go is, but I'm sure that this season is going to start picking up pretty soon. You can all head back to camp."

The Xon Tribe stood up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. Anita walked behind the others, looking somewhat relieved. Her tribe had decided to keep her, and now that she had more time on her hands, she could at least have the chance to look into what was going on, but she needed to act fast...

"_As far as I'm concerned, this was a completely-wasted opportunity. I felt I had the ability to go all the way, but my tribe decided to vote emotionally and not with their brains." Charlotte sighed. "I did absolutely no damage and those people made a mistake back there. There's no telling what's going to happen now…"_

**Voting History:**

**Charlotte – Anita, Barney, Edwina, Erica, Inferno and Renaldo**

**Anita – Charlotte, Grace, Jack and Kendall**

Author's Note: And there goes Charlotte. I'll be honest: Even though I knew Charlotte was a lock for All Stars, I had no idea what kind of story I could give her and she always seemed to come off as a strategy-bot with a bit of personality. That made Charlotte expendable pretty quickly and I decided to boot her here to keep the interesting characters around longer.


	4. Days 7 to 8

**(Xon Tribe)**

"_Charlotte just got voted out, and I'm fine with it. She's one of those people that would be impossible to get rid of later on, anyway." Barney shrugged. "It's good that Edwina and Renaldo came through for us, though. That vote still could have gone either way."_

"Thanks for helping us out back there, guys." Barney said.

"Keeping Anita over Charlotte was pretty much a no-brainer." Edwina shrugged. "Personally, I think I'd have a better time out here without having someone breathing down my neck about talking strategy."

"Thanks for keeping me, though." Anita sighed. "There are still some things I need to find out."

"Like what?" Renaldo asked.

"Um…I'd rather not say."

"_Yeah, booting Charlotte may have been an easy choice, but I'm still a little concerned about keeping Anita in the game." Renaldo said. "I mean, with how she's been looking, I'd almost think that voting her out would be doing her a FAVOUR."_

Meanwhile, Grace was having to answer for her actions, and towards someone who she was used to working with.

"Grace, I tried to piece those votes together in my head and I can only deduce that you still voted for Anita." Inferno said.

"I hope you're not mad. I caved in to my strategic side." Grace muttered.

"I'm more surprised that you still voted against us after coming to us and telling us that Charlotte was voting for Anita in the first place." Inferno supplied.

"Like I said, I ended up voting strategically instead of emotionally." Grace said.

"_Grace needs to watch herself out here. She was voted out last time because she wasn't thinking straight and if she keeps this up, she'll get a repeat performance." Inferno folded his arms. "I may sound harsh, but hey, I'm trying to help her here."_

"_I knew I'd regret my actions, but I wasn't expecting it to be this soon. I still think that voting out Anita probably would have been better to do, but I probably should have waited until I was sure I'd get enough votes to do it." Grace said. "Now I've got Inferno mad at me and I need to lay low for a bit until this blows over."_

"Just remember to watch yourself, Grace." Inferno said. "I don't want you leaving the same way you did last time."

Grace paused. "Wait…Did you just threaten me?" She asked, surprised.

"Of course not! It's concern!" Inferno insisted.

"I dunno. It sure SOUNDED like a threat."

The tribe decided to head to bed. They had just gone through a rough night and they felt they needed the rest.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 7)**

"_Coming into this, I want to make sure I know how my team-mates play the game so I know how to read them." Tempo explained. "Well, I've been trying to read Krash for a while now, but since Sandy's always dragging him off somewhere, I've never gotten the chance. The instant Sandy decided to leave him alone, I decided to make my move."_

"Hey, Krash? Can we talk for a second?" Tempo asked as he walked over to where Krash was trying to make a fire.

"Uh, sure. I guess." Krash nodded.

"I was wondering what your game style is. I mean, I've been trying to figure out, but I just don't know." Tempo said. "I was hoping you could tell me."

"Oh. Well, I don't really have a gameplay." Krash shrugged. "I mean, I hate all the strategy talk."

"_Tempo's a nice guy and all, but there's something about him that kinda puts me off a bit. Maybe it's the fact that he's talking strategy all the time." Krash folded his arms. "Man. It's good that we got rid of Yori and all, but we've still got people like Molly, Elias and Reginald talking strategy at every turn. I don't want Tempo to turn out like them as well."_

"Hey, it's nothing personal, but could you please tone down the strategy talk when I'm around?" Krash asked. "I have a hard enough time trying to understand big and long words that I've never heard before."

"So you're not a fan of strategy, then?" Tempo asked, an eyebrow lifted. "But how would you get any votes if you made it to the end and not made any big moves?"

"How would you get any votes if you made it to the end and made so many big moves that everyone was bitter at you?" Krash retorted with a shrug.

Tempo opened his mouth to reply, but found himself unable to come up with an answer. He closed his mouth and appeared to be in thought for a few seconds before scratching his head and wandering off. Krash shrugged and went back to attempting to make fire.

"He's weird." Krash said to himself.

Chloe looked up from her spot on the beach and saw Tempo wandering over. "I saw you talking with Krash. You find out anything?" She asked.

"Only that his strategy apparently makes you second-guess your own." Tempo mused. "How goes the search for the idol?"

"I'm apparently working by myself here." Chloe replied.

"I thought Sandy was searching with you."

"She WAS. Then she got bored." Chloe replied. "I think she said something about bugging Elias or something…"

"_Don't get me wrong. I've always been a fan of Sandy. It's just that…Well, she has an extremely-short attention span." Chloe explained. "We started off on the right foot and searched for the idol together, but I haven't seen her all day and I assume that she's just gone off to cause mayhem in a way only she can."_

**(Xon Tribe; Day 7)**

"You sure you don't want me to go with you, Anita?" Erica asked.

"…No. I just need to check a few things around camp." Anita explained. "And…Um…No offense, but there really wouldn't be anything you can do if I FIND anything."

Erica sighed. "Okay, but just…You know…Let us know…" She supplied.

"I will." Anita said as she wandered off and left the parameters of the camp.

"_Anita's seemed intent on actually finding something, and when SSBFreak said that she actually VANISHED in the middle of the confessional, it got all of us worried." Erica folded her arms. "I hope she can figure this out soon, though."_

"So Anita refused your help?" Inferno asked.

"We kinda figured she would." Barney shrugged.

Erica sighed. "I was really hoping I'd get the chance to help her out." She admitted.

"I say we just leave her for now. I doubt she'll let us help her." Barney said.

"_Anita's a good kid, but I think she's independent enough to do things without help this time. Last time, Ruth basically had to lead her by the hand." Barney pointed out._

Meanwhile, Jack and Kendall were off together, discussing their game. It was clear that Jack was looking a little worried.

"This isn't good. With Charlotte gone, the two of us are easy pickings for the others." Jack mused.

"Then why not try and find the idol?" Kendall suggested.

"That's our best bet at the moment, even if it's just a temporary fix."

"_We didn't get the numbers last night, and because there's a big alliance still here, Kendall and I are on the outs." Jack said. "Yeah, it would only help us for one round, but it would still help even the odds a bit and give us more time to regroup."_

"So where do you think it's be?" Jack asked, looking around.

Kendall narrowed his eyes. "I don't seem to recall the host giving us any clues." He said flatly.

"Maybe not, but it's on the campgrounds somewhere." Jack mused.

"Brilliant deduction. Now how about we actually start looking for it?" Kendall asked as he wandered off. "I'll look over here."

"Fine by me. We'll cover more ground that way." Jack nodded.

"_That idiot will help me find the idol, and I have absolutely no intention on using it to save him when the time comes." Kendall said with a smirk. "If he finds it first, I know he'll tell me, but if I find it, why should I tell Jack? That would do nothing to help my game."_

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"_I'm trying to sit back and let Reginald do the talking when it comes to this big alliance of ours. It keeps the attention off of me, at least." Elias shrugged. "That being said, I need to start making plans of my own because there's only so far this strategy of following Reginald will get me. I'm going to need a side alliance."_

"I'm just putting it out there, Reginald." Elias said. "The two of us should stick together before the others decide to vote us out."

"Didn't we try that back in season one? You should know how that all ended." Reginald said flatly.

"That was back then and we both know that." Elias pointed out. "Look, we may not see eye to eye, but you can't deny that the others will vote us out eventually."

Reginald folded his arms. "Okay. You've got a point." He admitted.

"_This could actually work in my favour. I've got a priority alliance with Gary and Mel, but if something happens, then I could always use Elias as a fallback." Reginald said. "I'm positive he's planning on using me as a backup vote, so I may as well try to beat him at his own game."_

Elias was about to continue talking to Reginald when he heard a light giggling coming from behind, which quickly turned into loud laughter. Turning around, Elias saw Sandy sitting on a nearby rock, and was by now on the ground in laughter.

"What's so funny?" Elias asked flatly.

"I can't believe I didn't realize it! It's so hilarious!" Sandy laughed.

"What?"

"Your name! You're an actor named Elias, right? And your friend, the one that came to visit back in season one? He's a director named Walter, right?" Sandy asked.

"What're you getting at?" Elias asked.

"You put your names together and you've got a connection with another actor/director! Don't tell me you've never put the pieces together yourself!" Sandy laughed.

Elias simply stared, eyebrow lifted. Sandy saw this and grinned maliciously.

"Walter…Elias…DISNEY."

Elias' eyes snapped open in shock as Sandy resumed her laughing. "Good grief, she's right." He muttered.

"A-And look! With that mustache, you even LOOK like Walt Disney!" Sandy stammered through her laughter. Elias' pupils shrank in realization as he felt his mustache. "Just slick the hair back and we've got a dead ringer!"

Reginald, for once, was amused by Sandy's antics. He folded his arms and chuckled at Elias' expense.

_Sandy sat in front of the camera, but was too busy rolling on the ground and laughing her head off to even notice the cameraman._

_Reginald smirked. "The realization was every bit as delicious as I anticipated it to be."_

**(Xon Tribe)**

Anita pushed a branch out of the way as she wander through the jungle, looking around constantly. She was still search the near vicinity of her tribe's camp, but had still been searching for a while.

"There has to be something around here somewhere." Anita muttered to herself. "I wouldn't be shifting if there wasn't something nearby."

"_When someone from my world has prolonged exposure to something that has to do with Cabadath, they shift into the other world when their heart rate goes up." Anita explained. "That's why I'm the only one shifting, but it tells me that there's still something around here that needs to be found."_

"This can't be a wild goose chase." Anita sighed as she looked in a bush. "I have to be getting close…"

Anita wandered around, feeling like she had been searching forever. That being said, she knew she had to be thorough with her search because she had no idea what she was looking for.

"What could be setting it off? Is there…Oh, no. I hope there isn't any cursed wood around here…"

Anita pushed her way into a small clearing in the jungle and looked around briefly before freezing and stopping dead in her tracks. Sitting in front of her was what looked like a ritual site, complete with ancient seats around it. Sitting on a small stump in the middle of the clearing was a wooden idol; one that looked rather crudely made. Anita stared directly at the idol, eyes wide and too afraid to move. After a few painful seconds, Anita did the only thing she could think of.

She screamed at the top of her lungs.

"_N-No…This isn't happening…Why here?! Am…Am I so unlucky that I end up on the same island as another one of those cursed things when there should only be ONE?!" Anita cried frantically. "This…This is a complete disaster in the making!"_

"Anita! Are you alright?!" Erica asked as she came rushing into the clearing with the rest of her tribe behind her. "We heard your scream back at camp!"

"Man. What the heck IS this place?" Inferno asked, looking around.

"And what's with that ugly idol on the stump?" Renaldo pointed out. "Is that the Hidden Immunity Idol?"

Kendall seemed intrigued. "The Hidden Immunity Idol?" He asked, taking a step forward.

Anita suddenly sprang to life, grabbing Kendall and forcing him back towards the others. "DON'T TOUCH THE IDOL! WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T TOUCH THE IDOL!" She shrieked. "BACK TO CAMP! EVERYONE BACK TO CAMP!"

With that, Anita pushed everyone else out of the clearing, looking close to hysterics.

**(Arkos Tribe)**

Mel was scanning through some bushes, looking for the Immunity Idol, when she spotted Molly doing the same nearby. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, Mel made her way over.

"_The last thing I want is people finding out I aligned with Molly. It could spell trouble for me and I really don't want a target on my back." Mel folded her arms with a sigh. "Molly and I are looking for the idol together, but if anyone else knows that, there goes our gameplan."_

"Any sign of it?" Mel asked discretely.

"None whatsoever." Molly muttered. "I honestly think searching these bushes is a waste of time."

"How do I know that you didn't actually find it and am hiding it from me?"

"Believe me. If I found it, I wouldn't still be searching these stupid bushes."

_Molly gave a frustrated sigh. "Mel and I aren't on good terms, but we need to work together if either of us wants to make the merge." She explained. "I honestly wish I could just drop her like dead weight, but I need her for now. I'm also certain Mel's got similar feelings about me."_

"We'll search this area for a little while longer, and then we'll move onto the beach." Molly suggested.

"Good idea. We'll start at opposite ends of the beach and work our way inwards." Mel nodded.

"Just remember not to screw with me if you find the idol." Molly warned. "You know that I'm capable of getting the others to vote you out."

"Sadly, I'm well aware of your ability." Mel sighed and rolled her eyes.

Mel wandered away from Molly and continued searching. However, as Mel was wandering around near some far-off trees, Mel spotted Gary leaning against a tree.

Mel jumped in surprise. "Uh…Hey, Gary." She said.

"Looks like you're got a secondary alliance going, Mel." Gary noted. "You didn't tell Reginald and I that you had already aligned with Molly."

"Gary, I swear that it's the backup plan!" Mel insisted, looking worried.

"Eh, don't worry. You can play the game however you want. I'm just here to enjoy myself." Gary shrugged. "Your secret's safe with me, but I suggest you watch yourself when Reginald's around. I doubt he'd see things the same way."

With that, Gary wandered off. Mel looked visibly relieved.

"_I was a little surprised that Mel joined with Molly, and I'm a little unsure about her game, but hey, it's her game. I'm not going to play it for her." Gary shrugged. "Besides, sooner or later the secret's going to come out. Who am I to cut Mel's game short when the secret will end it either way?"_

"_I guess I should be thankful that Gary's a little laid-back. I was a little worried about him since I had never seen him play." Mel sighed in relief._

**(Xon Tribe)**

"An ancient ritual site for the Order of Blessed Agonies?!" Grace asked in shock.

"YES! I swear that's what it was! There was no question!" Anita said, holding her head. "I knew something was up when I started shifting!"

"_Anita's been nothing but hysterical since she saw that old ritual site, if that's even what it was. Seeing how emotional she's been, I feel inclined to believe her." Edwina said. "I've honestly never heard of it myself, but from what Anita said, that cult was definitely real creepy…"_

"Those bodies I found in the other world…The cultists must have shifted ages ago and met their end there…" Anita sighed. "But why here?..."

"I still think this is a bunch of baloney. I think you're trying to hide the fact that you found the Immunity Idol and don't want us to take it." Kendall accused.

"_I saw this as a chance to make the others turn on Anita. Any chance I'd get to get them to vote out a popular player, I'd take it." Kendall said. "I honestly don't care if this is true or not."_

"What's stopping me from going back to that stump and taking the idol for myself?" Kendall asked, walking past Anita.

Anita was quick to jump to her feet and frantically grab Kendall by the vest, staring into his eyes with a tear-stained face. "You touch that idol and you'll doom every last one of us!" She yelled. "Cabadath brutally strikes down anyone that so much as touches anything made from the tree that houses his soul!"

Kendall was silent for a few seconds before his eyes widened. "You're…You're actually serious…" He said before Anita let him go.

"This is just messed up." Inferno shook his head. "But why the heck is this crap happening to you and not the rest of us?"

"Because shifting is only exclusive to people with prolonged exposure to Cabadath's presence." Anita sighed, wiping her eyes. "But can…Can you guys at least promise me that you won't touch the idol? The lives of everyone HERE are at stake if you do."

"Don't worry. If it makes you feel better, we'll leave it alone." Edwina supported.

"We'll have to make sure that the production crew knows about this, though." Grace pointed out. "Seriously, if what Anita says is true, we've got a major crisis on our hands."

"Yeah. Yeesh, this game just got a lot deadlier." Edwina shook her head.

"_Am I apprehensive about Anita's story? Maybe. Does it sound like she's trying to get sympathy votes? Definitely. However, if she was from any node OTHER than Chzo Mythos, I wouldn't buy a word of it." Grace folded her arms. "But the fact that she comes from a world as twisted as it is, I'm definitely a little worried about that idol…"_

"Dude, that wasn't cool." Jack said to Kendall.

"Whatever. It was instincts." Kendall insisted.

The tribes went to bed once night came around. Hoping that there would be a challenge tomorrow, everyone wanted to be prepared for anything.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 8)**

"Still no sign of the idol?" Tempo asked Chloe as he walked over to where she was looking.

"None whatsoever. Man, this is weird." Chloe scratched her head. "How the heck did I find it so fast last season?"

"Pure luck?" Tempo asked, an eyebrow lifted.

"_Chloe's been looking for the idol practically nonstop, and it's worrying me to see her getting frustrated, more because she tends to run her mouth when she gets annoyed." Tempo folded his arms. "Chloe and I are in this together, but if she blurts out something she isn't supposed to, she'll end up giving the both of us unwanted targets."_

Tempo turned his head to see Krash walking out of the water again. "No luck?" He asked.

"Nope. I think we can safely say that it's not in the water." Krash shook his head. "I guess that means it's somewhere in camp."

Tempo appeared to be in thought. "What if someone from the other alliance found the idol in the water first?" He asked.

"Well, the only other person I've seen scanning through the deep water with me was Elias and I don't think he got it." Krash shrugged.

"Then where could it be?" Chloe sighed.

"_I'm kinda just doing what I'm told because I really don't like thinking about stuff too much. If Tempo says that we need the idol, I guess its best that I try to find it." Krash said. "I mean, if the idol will give us a better chance at staying, then sure, I'll look around for it. But I've watched other seasons and I've seen what the idol can do to people if they let it control them."_

"We've got treemail, everyone." Gary said as he walked into camp.

"About time." Molly said. "Since we haven't had one for a few days, it's probably another Immunity Challenge."

"It's just wondering if we can swim and carry at the same time."

There was a few seconds of silence. Chloe, Gary and Tempo suddenly gave a collective shudder.

"What's with you guys?" Reginald asked, eyebrow lifted.

"Just a few bad memories of the first challenge from our season." Chloe said flatly. "You wouldn't understand."

"_If this challenge is anything like that one where the idiot on our team lit our raft on fire, I'm gonna kill something." Chloe said flatly._

"_At least there aren't any idiots on the team this time." Gary shrugged before pausing. "Although I question on whether or not Sandy is liable to do something similar…"_

**(Xon Tribe; Day 8)**

"_As much as I hate to admit it, Anita's little freakout's given me a good opportunity. I feel real guilty about this, but it needs to be done." Grace said. "Convincing her friends to vote her out will be tough, but if I can give my reasoning, I think they'll give in."_

"You mean you want to vote out Anita after everything she did?" Jack asked, a little surprised.

"Look, this isn't about the game or how much of a threat she is." Grace insisted. "I personally think voting her out would be the best thing for her. I think we just need to get her off this island as soon as possible so she doesn't go through this anymore."

Jack paused, then nodded. "Yeah. You've got a point." He said.

"_It never occurred to me that we could actually help Anita by voting her out." Jack pointed out. "It makes sense, and I guess the good thing is that if Anita's friends get mad, I can say that it was Grace's idea."_

"I'm all for it." Kendall said with a smirk.

"Good to hear. Just remember that I'm doing this for Anita's own good." Grace said.

"Fine with me." Kendall shrugged.

"_This could be good. If we can vote out Anita, I can easily just tell the others that it was Grace's idea and get the others to turn on her." Kendall said with a dark smirk. "These people are easy to play. I can just sit back and let them take each other out while I just coast through the game."_

"Hey, guys. We've got treemail." Barney said as he walked into camp.

"So what's it say?" Edwina asked.

"Looks like we've got a swimming challenge that involves carrying." Barney read. "Hmm…Wonder what that means."

"That reminds me of a certain challenge I had back in my season." Erica said flatly.

"That was funny to watch." Kendall chuckled.

"_It's probably an Immunity Challenge. It's been a few days, so I'd say we're due." Barney said. "Now, we may have just come off of Tribal Council, but we can totally win this. We just need to pull out all the stops."_

"_I can only hope that the fact that we voted out a stronger player doesn't come back to haunt us." Renaldo sighed._

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The Arkos Tribe stood on their mat, in a clearing by the beach. The Xon Tribe's mat was empty this time.

"Before we start, let's bring out the Xon Tribe." SSBFreak explained as the Xon Tribe walked into view. People noticed who was absent. "Charlotte was voted out at Tribal Council."

"That's a bit of a surprise." Krash scratched his head as the Xon Tribe stepped onto their mat.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will be testing your swimming and puzzle skills." SSBFreak said as everyone saw two empty tablets behind him. "In the water is thirty small bags for each team, and in six of those bags are letters. Six people from each team will be in the water, trying to find these bags of letters, while the remaining three on each team will be unscrambling the letters once they've all been collected. Keep in mind that, once you collect a bag of letters, you can't go back in the water again. The first team to successfully unscramble the letters and form the word they spell will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

The two teams exchanged glances, knowing that a challenge like this could really go either way.

"If you'll decide who's doing what, we can start the challenge." SSBFreak said.

**(Later…)**

The six swimmers chosen for Arkos were Sandy, Reginald, Tempo, Gary, Krash and Elias while the puzzle-solvers were Mel, Chloe and Molly. The swimmers chosen for Xon were Edwina, Barney, Grace, Inferno, Jack and Renaldo while the puzzle-solvers were Erica, Anita and Kendall. The twelve swimmers stood on the beach and prepared to run.

"Okay. For Immunity, survivors ready?..." SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

The twelve swimmers quickly jumped into action and bolted down to the water. Sandy jumped into the water headfirst, followed closely by Krash. Everyone else hit the water at almost the same time, and everyone quickly went under.

"I'm unsure of why we let Barney do this." Erica folded her arms. "Whose choice was that, anyway?"

"Mine. Why?" Kendall said.

"Barney can't swim, brainiac. Didn't you watch the first season?"

"Never really cared enough to watch." Kendall shrugged.

As if to prove Erica's point, Barney had come up for air pretty quickly. Taking a deep breath, Barney went back under again. Barney ended up coming up for air one more time before anyone else did, and that person was Elias.

"No good. That one didn't have any letters in it." Elias muttered as he held the empty sack he had untied and tossed it aside before going under the water again.

Krash quickly emerged from the water and held up a sack. "I've got one!" He cheered as he swam to shore.

"That was fast." Mel said, surprised.

"I know. He didn't even come up for air." Molly added.

As Krash ran out of the water, Sandy and Grace emerged from the water empty-handed. The two went back under again as Reginald emerged, also without a sack.

Barney emerged from the water again, gasping for breath. "Why did I agree to this?!" He asked aloud.

Edwina and Renaldo suddenly emerged from the water. The only difference between the two was that Renaldo didn't have a sack and Edwina did. "I found one!" The Scribblenaut said as she swam to shore.

"Edwina ties the game at 1 each."

"Way to go, Edwina!" Erica cheered. "Come on! Bring it in!"

Krash, by now, had given the sack he collected to his teammates. "I can't go back in?" He asked.

"No. You have to stay on shore." Mel shook her head.

Sandy and Tempo emerged from the water, each with a sack of letters. "Man. I was running out of breath for a bit." Tempo wheezed as he swam to shore with Sandy dog-paddling ahead of him.

"Sandy and Tempo give Arkos a 3-1 lead."

"This isn't good." Anita shook her head.

Inferno burst out from the water with a sack of letters (the same time as Barney came up empty-handed again). The disco fanatic raced to shore, hoping to catch up with Sandy and Tempo.

"Inferno brings the score closer for Xon at 3-2."

"How many sacks did he say were under the water?" Chloe asked as Sandy and Tempo handed over their collected letters to the solvers.

"I think he said thirty." Mel replied.

"Our odds are getting slimmer…" Molly muttered,

Renaldo emerged from the water, again empty-handed. "What's wrong with me? My luck just isn't working with me here…" He muttered. "Or maybe that's because it's NEVER worked with me…"

Elias, also empty-handed, emerged from the water beside Gary, who was also without a sack. "How many do we have?" He asked.

"Looks like we've got three." Gary said, looking at the shore.

"There must be at least twenty bags we still haven't checked yet and only three of them have letters." Elias muttered.

"Might as well keep trying, then." Gary shrugged as he went under the water again.

Elias sighed. "Easy for HIM to say." He muttered as he followed suit.

Grace and Jack emerged from the water, Grace with a bag of letters and Jack without one. As Jack silently went under the water again, Grace made her way to shore.

"That took longer than I would have liked." Grace muttered as she climbed onto the shore.

"Grace again ties the game at 3."

Gary emerged from the water again, holding onto a bag of letters. "That wasn't so hard." He shrugged as he started making his way back. By this point, Reginald (and Barney) had come up empty-handed to watch him go.

"This is getting frustrating." Reginald muttered as he went under the water again.

"Gary gives the Arkos Tribe another lead at 4-3." SSBFreak explained. "At this point, Elias and Reginald are the only ones searching for Arkos while Xon still has Barney, Renaldo and Jack searching."

"We've still got a chance, guys! Come on!" Erica said.

"Just two more! We can do this!" Tempo said.

"Come on, Reggie! You got this!" Sandy cheered.

Reginald burst from under the water, holding a bag of letters. "REGINALD!" He roared to the sky.

"How exactly does that work?" Molly asked.

"I'm not complaining." Mel shrugged. "He's got another bag of letters."

"Reginald increases Arkos' lead 5-3."

Renaldo emerged from the water, holding a sack of letters. "Freaking finally." He said as he paddled to shore. "Sorry it took so long!"

"You're fine, Renaldo! There are still people searching!" Edwina cheered.

"Renaldo brings the score to 5-4."

"It's down to Elias against Barney and Jack." Reginald said as he dropped his letters off. "Frankly, considering Barney's lack of any sort of swimming abilities, I'm feeling confident."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, buddy." Sandy said brightly.

"Hold on! There's Elias coming up for air again!" Chloe pointed out.

Elias emerged from the water and took a breath, then lifted his arm to show that he had found the last bag of letters for Arkos. This caused his team to cheer.

"Elias finds the last bag of letters for Arkos. Once Elias hands it over, the solvers can start on the puzzle." SSBFreak said.

"Oh, no." Anita sighed. "They've got them all."

"Maybe they'll have trouble with the puzzle." Erica said hopefully.

Elias handed the bag of letters over to Mel as the three girls from Arkos went to work on the letters they had collected.

"What the heck's up with this?" Molly asked. "There are some Q's a Z's in the mix."

"We probably don't need all of the letters. Let's just see what we can spell out of this that makes sense for a challenge." Mel said.

"Is the word Immunity able to be spelled?" Chloe asked.

Mel scanned over the letters and moved the selected ones aside. "Yes. That's a start." She said. "Anything else?"

Molly appeared to be in thought, trying to see some sort of pattern.

Barney and Jack emerged from the water, Jack with a bag of letters. Barney was still without one and it looked like he had all but given up on finding one.

"Jack found a bag of letters, but he and Barney need to hurry in order to catch up." SSBFreak explained.

Molly spotted something in the letters. "I see 'Winners' in there." She pointed out. "You girls think the answer could be 'Immunity Winners'?"

"It's definitely probable and it uses up most of the letters we've got." Mel nodded as she grabbed some letters.

The three solvers arranged the selected letters on the board provided to them and spelled out 'Immunity Winners' before turning to the host. "I think we've got it!" Chloe said.

SSBFreak scanned the puzzle and nodded. "That's correct! The puzzle is solved and the challenge is over!" He said. "Arkos wins Immunity!"

"Alright! We did it!" Chloe cheered as the Arkos Tribe cheered in victory.

Barney emerged from the water again to see that the challenge had been won. He sighed in frustration as he paddled to shore.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Arkos Tribe. You're all safe for at least a few more days out here." SSBFreak said as he turned to the losing tribe. "Xon Tribe, I'll be seeing you again tonight at Tribal Council, where you will vote a second person out of the game. You need to decide who to cut from the team, so I'll give you the rest of the day to make up your minds. You can all head back to camp."

**(Xon Tribe)**

"_And we were doing so well at first, man. We just lost our second Immunity Challenge in a row and we gotta vote off someone again." Inferno sighed. "Well, since Erica is pretty insistent on Kendall, and the fact that it was his idea to make Barney swim in the first place, I think we should target him."_

"So how is this going to work?" Inferno asked. "I mean, I'm sure that Anita's going to be a prime target again."

"I can convince the others to vote out Kendall." Erica assured. "It would just be so much easier if he started showing his insufferable self again."

"We only really need Edwina and Renaldo to vote with us again." Barney supplied. "You think we can sway them?"

"Like I said, I think so."

"How're you holding up, Anita?" Inferno asked. "Still shaken?"

"N-No. I'm fine." Anita insisted. "Just a little surprised at everything that's happened."

"_My outburst is sure to get me some votes, but I know I'm not crazy with this. I know that there's an ancient ritual site that's acting as a link between worlds." Anita said. "The only problem is that the others will have a hard time believing me if there isn't any proof."_

Meanwhile, Grace was pitching her plan to Edwina and Renaldo, hoping that they would buy it.

"Look, this has nothing to do with the game. I'm worried about her safety out here." Grace said. "I think it's more voting her out because she needs to get off the island as fast as possible to stop everything that's happening to her."

Edwina paused, then sighed. "Grace, I hope you realize that this move is going to make you a few enemies." She explained.

"How the heck would you know that?"

"She's the Survivor superfan here, remember?" Renaldo quizzed.

"_This is my chance to eliminate a big threat, and I can play the sympathy card to get the others to vote her off for her own wellbeing." Grace explained. "I really wish there was a way I could say that that didn't make me come off as a villain, but there's really no other way to put it."_

"_Grace has a point, but I'd feel bad about voting for Anita like this…" Edwina sighed. "What to do…"_

"This is the perfect chance to eliminate Anita early, so I'm going to take it for sure." Kendall said.

"Kendall, this isn't ABOUT strategy!" Grace insisted. "I swear that this is Anita leaving for the sake of Anita!"

"Sure. Let's go with that." Kendall said with a smirk.

"Dude, watch it." Jack hissed. "You're digging yourself into a hole here."

"_Hey, if I can cast a bit of doubt onto Grace, that makes her a target in the eyes of everyone else." Kendall shrugged. "I'm here for one thing only: Myself. These people are just here as obstacles and I'll take down them all on my way to the finals."_

"_Either way, this is going to be an interesting Council." Jack lifted an eyebrow behind his shades._

**(Tribal Council)**

The nine members of Xon walked into Tribal Council, carrying lit torches. Finding a spot on the seats provided, everyone sat down and waited for council to commence.

"Welcome to Tribal Council, Xon Tribe. What started as a one-person advantage will soon turn into a one-person disadvantage as you vote one of your own out of the game." SSBFreak said as he started asking questions. "Grace, has your tribe been affected much by Charlotte getting voted out?"

"Not as much as I thought it would. Yes, Charlotte was a strong player, but Barney and Inferno more than make up for it." Grace explained.

Barney gave a sigh, which SSBFreak caught. "Something on your mind, Barney?" He asked.

"I honestly don't like getting singled out like that. I don't like having to be relied on, because I feel that I'd be a big target if I fail the team." Barney explained.

"Like how you did at the challenge?" Kendall asked with a smirk.

Barney cast a dark glance at Kendall. "Don't test me." He warned.

"Erica, what was your reasoning for voting out Charlotte?" SSBFreak asked.

"She targeted Anita for no apparent reason other than the possibility of her being a threat." Erica explained. "And I know for a fact I'd rather have Anita around the camp than Charlotte."

"Was the vote personal?"

"Maybe. It's a bit of yes and no." Erica shrugged.

"Anita, I hear that you made a discovery the other day?"

"I found an ancient ritual site that's been the cause of me shifting back and forth between the two worlds." Anita explained. "I hope that you've taken the precautions, though."

"Don't worry. We had the site fenced off as soon as we found out what it was."

Anita gave a sigh in relief. "That's good."

"Inferno, who are the big targets tonight?"

"Well, it's clear that the others are voting for Anita again." Inferno folded his arms. "However, we're voting for Kendall."

"Any particular reason why?" SSBFreak asked as Kendall looked surprised.

"Yes. Please tell me why." Kendall said darkly.

"Erica says you're a snake, and since we've been playing for a week, I think I'm convinced that she's right about you." Inferno explained. "Besides, it was YOUR idea you make Barney swim in the first place."

"Yeah. What was up with THAT?" Barney asked.

"You should have said that you could swim like an anchor! Don't blame this on me!" Kendall snapped.

"Kendall, why are you targeting Anita?" SSBFreak asked.

"Ask Grace. It was her idea." Kendall said gruffly.

Grace's eyes widened as everyone turned to her. "Hey! What was THAT for?!" She asked Kendall.

"Grace, what's your reasoning here?" The host asked.

Grace looked around at everyone. "Believe me, it has nothing to do with the game! I just think that Anita needs to go for the sake of herself. If she stays any longer, she could have another episode that she may not recover from!" She insisted. "I think she needs to go for her own wellbeing!"

"Edwina, you and Renaldo were the swing votes last time." SSBFreak said. "How will you two vote tonight?"

"I honestly don't know." Edwina sighed. "I mean, I don't WANT to vote Anita out, but I can see Grace's reasoning. I'm still not sure who I'm voting for."

"Well, I think that's enough questions. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Inferno, you're up."

Inferno got up and walked out of the hut to go vote. The blue-haired man scribbled a name down and put it into the urn before heading back.

Renaldo appeared to be torn as he approached the table. Finally, the faceless man wrote a name down and put it in the urn before second-guessing himself.

Anita wrote down a name and turned it around, revealing Kendall's name. "Because Erica wants you out." She explained as she voted and walked away.

Erica walked up to the table and wrote a name down. Her eyes narrowed, the green-haired girl put her ballot into the urn and left the table.

Grace walked up to the table and wrote a name down, turning it around. "This is for your own good. Believe me." She said, having voting for Anita.

Kendall silently wrote a name down and turned it, also revealing Anita's name. "So much for me sailing through to the merge." He said.

Jack gave a sigh and wrote a name down. "I don't wanna do this…" He said as he voted anyway and walked back to the hut after he was done.

Edwina still appeared to be in thought as she approached the table. Coming to a decision, the young girl wrote a name down, put it into the urn and walked away.

Barney was the last to vote. He turned his ballot around, revealing Kendall's name. "I hope the swing votes come through for us." He said as he voted and walked away.

Once all nine players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. No one spoke out if they had the idol, which seemed to tell people that it was still in play. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Kendall." Kendall folded his arms.

"Anita." Anita stayed silent.

"…Anita." Anita and Erica exchanged glances.

"Kendall. It's tied 2-2." Kendall frowned.

"Kendall. He leads with 3." Kendall took a deep breath.

"…Anita." Anita was still silent.

"Anita. It's 4-3." Anita looked back at Barney and Inferno.

"…Kendall. It's tied at 4." The council was deathly quiet, knowing that it had come down to one vote. "Final vote and third person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Anita. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak explained.

Anita gave a sigh as she stood up. Erica looked devastated. "It's okay, guys. I know it was in my best interests." She said as she grabbed her torch and brought it to the host.

"Anita, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Anita's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Win this for me, guys." Anita said to her alliance as she walked out of Tribal Council and vanished from sight.

Once Anita was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "The dust has settled and another one of you is out. Anita made a startling discovery that in the end she couldn't recover from finding. Whether or not it was a mercy kill tonight I still don't know, but I can assure you that the game's only going to get harder from this point out." He explained. "Seventeen remain, and you guys are down one person. We'll have to see if you can recover from this at the next challenge, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

The eight remaining Xon players stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Erica brought up the rear, looking down. She had just watched as one of her favourite players was kicked off early, and even if it WAS in her best wishes, it still hurt. Erica sighed, wondering which of the other players would be the one to blame for all of this…

"_I'm a little let down for being voted out so early, but I feel that Grace was right in the end. If I had stayed any longer, I may have ended up going into another episode, and I was running a little low on tranquilizer pills." Anita sighed. "Maybe I'll be able to relax at the Loser's Lodge and not have to worry about shifting anymore. Still, the experience was good and I'm grateful for it."_

**Voting History:**

**Anita – Edwina, Grace, Jack, Kendall and Renaldo**

**Kendall – Anita, Barney, Erica and Inferno**

Author's Notes: And so Anita leaves, just after finally solving her shifting problems. I'll be honest: The shifting aspects of Trilby's Notes (a game in the Chzo Mythos series), was something I wanted to do since the start, but if I did them in season two, it would make Anita a far-bigger character than she already was. Doing it in All Stars seemed like the better choice for me, and then I could boot her after she figured everything out.

To the people that don't like Anita, at least she only lasted three episodes. To her fans, at least those three episodes were big.


	5. Days 9 to 11

**(Xon Tribe)**

"Well, that sucked." Inferno sighed as he walked into camp. "How do you suppose that happened?"

"I'm betting that Grace managed to convince Edwina and Renaldo that booting Anita was for her own good." Barney reasoned, arms folded.

"You disagree with her?" Inferno asked.

"Not exactly. I think she was right, but it still puts me off."

"_Losing Anita isn't good for a few reasons, but the biggest reason is that it takes our big alliance down a bit and now we've gotta try harder to survive." Inferno said. "I mean, all it takes is Grace or Kendall to convince the swing votes of a few things and all of a sudden we get blindsided one after the other."_

"I still feel bad." Erica sighed. "Anita was, like, my favourite player ever and I really didn't want to see her get voted out so soon."

"So what do we do now?" Barney asked. "I think it's obvious that we need the idol."

"If anyone else other than us finds it, we're doomed." Inferno said.

Erica narrowed her eyes. "I'm not letting Kendall get the better of me again." She said.

"_Last time, Kendall was causing me so many problems in the game that it took forever to vote him out." Erica said. "It may have been satisfying to finally give him the boot, but I really don't want to go through another season with him when I could be enjoying the game and playing with my favourite players."_

Edwina and Renaldo were perched on one of the two high ledges in the camp and looked around. Renaldo eyed the two groups in the camp and turned to Edwina. "I still think we're shooting ourselves in the foot, here." He said cautiously.

"Renaldo, both sides came to us. We're the swing votes and they're too intent on taking each other out." Edwina said. "I think we're in the perfect position here."

"Remember what happened to that cowgirl from season two, though?" Renaldo asked. "If the others get wise, they're sure to gang up on us and vote us out!"

"Then we just need to focus on whittling the others down, don't we?"

"_Edwina's dead-set on eliminating the other alliances until they're down to manageable numbers. Quite frankly, this idea worries me." Renaldo moaned. "We need to choose a side and we need to do it before we're blindsided, because I just KNOW something's going to happen if we don't act quickly."_

"_I know about the rules and main strategies of Survivor, so when an opportunity like this arises, I'd be a fool not to take it, at least for now." Edwina insisted. "Renaldo thinks that this idea will blow up in our faces, but I just want to get the alliances down a bit so the two of us have a bit more control."_

"But look at who the alliances have. You expect the others to want to vote out Barney and Inferno this early?" Renaldo asked.

"No, but that doesn't matter. We won't be going after them first, anyway." Edwina shrugged.

The team of eight decided to go to bed. The ones looking for answers would have to get them the following morning.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 9)**

"_Mel and I have been searching for that idol nonstop, but I think we've been managing to keep people from being suspicious of us being in an alliance." Molly said. "I was contemplating backstabbing Mel when I get my hands on the idol, but I need her vote. I need to keep her around as long as I can."_

Molly sat by the fire pit, taking a break from her search for the idol. The pink Minjo prodded the fire pit with a stick to keep the remnants of the fire alive as she glanced around.

"I haven't seen anyone looking for the idol around this area today…" Molly muttered. "I wonder why that is…"

"Because we've searched through this area enough, pinky."

Molly's eyes snapped open as she spun around to find herself staring at the grinning face of Sandy. Molly growled. "Leave me alone, you maniac." She said.

"No. Not until you answer my question." Sandy said. "What exactly do Minjos DO?"

Molly stared flatly. "If you must know, Minjos are magical beings capable of feats like flight and transformation." She said.

"Those are what JINJOS do. I'm asking about MINJOS." Sandy said with a smirk.

"_Everyone knows that Minjos are just cheap copies of the Jinjos, so I was basically wondering if Minjos were capable of doing anything that Jinjos couldn't. Y'know, something ORIGINAL." Sandy chuckled. "Looks like they aren't."_

"Sandy, what are you doing over here?" Krash asked as he came walking over.

"Annoying me. Now would you PLEASE get rid of her?" Molly asked flatly.

"Aw, c'mon, Krash! I'm certain that she's a sand weaval in disguise!" Sandy insisted.

"Sandy, I'm still not sure about that." Krash said. "Now come over here and give me a hand, will you?"

Sandy glanced down at Moly, then got right in her face for a few seconds eyeing her suspiciously. "I've got my eyes on you." She warned as she turned around and followed Krash.

"_This feels kinda weird. Last time, I just sorta listened to what Charlotte had to say about things and did them. Here, I'm more the one in charge, keeping tabs on Sandy and all." Krash scratched his head. "It sure feels strange because I've never really been given any sort of authority before…"_

"Why were you talking to her?" Krash asked as Sandy followed him. "You were the one to tell ME not to talk to her."

Sandy whistled and pulled an Immunity Idol into the open. "I found this near where Molly was sitting. She looked pretty close to finding it." She explained.

Krash's eyes widened. "How'd you find that?!" He asked.

"That's not HALF as interesting as how I was able to hide it from Molly and still get in her face." Sandy said brightly.

_Sandy tossed the idol to herself a few times. "Never underestimate me." She said before giving a wink to the camera._

**(Xon Tribe; Day 9)**

"_Last night was great. We managed to eliminate a big threat and we brought down the other alliance a few pegs." Kendall said with a smirk. "If we can keep this up, the entire alliance will be wiped out and then I can start focusing on my unwitting allies. But first, I think I'm entitled to having a little fun."_

"If you don't mind, I'm going over to see if I can rub this victory in Erica's face a bit." Kendall said.

"Dude, what?! That'll just make the others hate you!" Jack insisted. "There's no gain in that!"

"There's no harm in it. Now that we've got the edge, the other alliance is doomed." Kendall waved it off. "I think I can taunt Erica about it because there's really nothing she can do about it at this point."

Jack seemed stunned. "Kendall, you're not factoring in the fact that Edwina and Renaldo are the swing votes here!" He said. "If you isolate yourself, not only will it endanger me as well, but it'll get the swing votes to turn on us!"

"You worry too much. I think I'm entitled to having a little fun." Kendall said as he wandered off.

"_Erica's always said that Kendall's no good, and to be frank, I think I'm starting to believe her. Kendall's not showing any control and is intent on going to the other alliance to GLOAT when there's no way we've got the majority yet." Jack moaned. "I'd better tell Grace about this. Something tells me that the two of us are in over our heads a bit."_

"What is Kendall THINKING?!" Grace asked, holding her head. "He's going to do nothing but screw all three of us over in the long run!"

"That's what I told him. I think he doesn't care about the consequences." Jack folded his arms. "You know how Erica said that he wasn't trustworthy?"

Grace sighed. "Yeah. I'm starting to think we should have booted him when we had the chance." She sighed. "Well, what should we do?"

"If the blame is put on us, we're going to need the idol." Jack explained.

"That's probably our only hope, but we've been looking for it for days." Grace sighed. "Where in camp HAVEN'T we looked yet?"

"You got me, but that could also mean that someone's found it already."

Grace face-palmed. "That would be absolutely TERRIBLE…"

"_Right now, Jack and I need to find that idol. If Kendall's intent on isolating us, we need the added protection." Grace said determinedly. "I didn't come back here, to an ALL-STARS season, to get screwed over by a monkey with no social skills."_

"_If Kendall isolates us, I need to deny any involvement. It may make me seem like I'm trying to throw Kendall under the bus, but if he's willing to do the same to me, then maybe Erica's group would sympathize with me due to not being aware of him…" Jack reminded._

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"How the heck did she find it?" Chloe asked as she examined the idol that Sandy found. "We must have gone through that area seven times trying to find it!"

"Maybe it blended into the scenery because it looks like a rock." Krash shrugged.

Chloe inspected the idol further and saw that, when turned on its side, it indeed looked like a rock. It was only on the other side that it was revealed to have the carvings of the idol.

"You think Molly carved that herself and planted it to throw Sandy off?" Tempo asked skeptically.

"That midget doesn't have the patience to carve an idol out of a ROCK." Sandy handwaved it.

"Makes sense." Krash shrugged. "Carving it out of wood would be no problem, but it's carved out of a rock here."

"_I'm still a little unsure about this. Sandy easily found the idol, and it just so happened to be where Molly was sitting." Tempo pointed out. "I KNOW how much of a sneak Molly is. If she had the time and patience she TOTALLY could carve and idol out of anything."_

"Well, say it IS the idol." Tempo said. "What do we do with it NOW?"

"I dunno, but the possibility of us having it makes me feel a little better." Krash replied.

"What possibility? Don't you guys trust me?" Sandy asked, receiving a series of flat stares from the others. "Don't answer that."

"_I think we've got the idol. I mean, if everyone was looking around for an actual gem, then the last thing anyone would expect is an idol carved out of a rock." Chloe said with a shrug. "Maybe it's just me being optimistic, but it makes sense to me."_

"So who should we target first?" Chloe asked. "I think the only one we should avoid targeting is Gary."

"That goes without saying." Tempo rolled his eyes. "I'd say that our main concerns are Reginald, Elias and Molly."

"Really?" Krash asked.

"They can control the game if given the chance." Tempo replied. "Even if we can get rid of one of them, it's still better than all of them making it deep into the game."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Chloe shrugged. "Unless anyone else has a better idea."

"My only idea involved us dancing a polka with a prairie dog and a bowl of sour cream." Sandy shrugged. She looked as the other three stared at her strangely. "…What?" She asked defensively.

_Tempo sat in front of the camera, looking like he was trying to come up with an explanation. "I…I don't even…" He stammered._

**(Xon Tribe)**

Kendall gave a smirk as he walked up to Erica, who turned to see him coming. The green-haired girl rolled her eyes. "What do you want?" She asked.

"Nothing, really. I'm just here to gloat in victory." Kendall said with a smirk. "How's it feel to see your favourite player in the game eliminated? Does it depress you like the goth girl you are? Well, I wouldn't worry, because you and those two lummoxes of yours will be seeing her again soon enough."

"Don't get cocky this early, Kendall." Erica said, narrowing her eyes. "Remember what happened the last time you got cocky?"

Kendall scoffed. "It doesn't matter. We have you outnumbered and you've officially lost. It's only a matter of time before you three get taken out." He said.

"Shut up! I may be upset that Anita had to get eliminated, but I know that we're far from down and out!"

"You keep telling yourself that. You know I'm right."

"_Kendall's words hit a little harder than I thought they would, but there was no way I was letting that idiot know." Erica said. "The last thing I want is to give him the satisfaction of thinking he won the argument."_

"Hey! What's the racket about?!" Barney asked as he came over.

Kendall smirked. "Nothing. I'm just telling the little twerp here that you are doomed from here on out now that your alliance is in a severe minority." He said.

Barney stared flatly. "Yeah. A severe 5-3 minority where there are two SWING VOTES that can still join us and give us the majority again." He said before getting into Kendall's face. "Look, Kendall. It's clear now that you don't like us, and if you keep this up, I will personally see to it that you will pay for your actions."

"Tough talk coming from a dead man walking." Kendall said before flipping Barney off. "You have no power over me, you oaf."

With that, Kendall turned and walked away, smirking in triumph. Barney shook his head in hopelessness. "Didn't he watch the first season?" He asked.

"Likely not or else he wouldn't have tried talking back to you." Erica muttered.

"What was that all about?" Inferno asked as he came over.

"Looks like Erica was right about Kendall." Barney replied. "He's completely insufferable."

"_You don't really think I'd make my tribe mad at me without having a backup plan, do you?" Kendall asked with a devilish smirk as he pulled a similar idol to the one Sandy found from within his shirt. "I found the idol a couple of days ago. The fact that I can hide it on my person is one of the reasons I decided to wear clothes this season."_

Night eventually rolled in. Knowing that there would be a challenge tomorrow, the two tribes went to bed to get themselves rested.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 10)**

Gary was leaning back and relaxing against a tree, looking close to dozing off. Reginald saw this from afar and frowned. Elias approached him.

"What's up with him?" Elias asked.

"I don't know, but the fact that he's relaxing like that is a little off-putting." Reginald replied.

"_We're supposed to be looking for the idol, here. I don't know why Gary is choosing the middle of the day to sleep, but it's not going to do him any good." Reginald folded his arms. "He says that he made the finals last time, but if he was acting so laid back about everything, I don't see how that's possible."_

"Gary, what are you doing?" Elias asked. "We're supposed to be looking for the idol."

Gary looked up, tilting his hat. "Yeah, I know." He shrugged. "It's just that I saw Sandy with it earlier."

Elias and Reginald stared flatly. "…WHAT." They said as one.

"I figured that if Sandy already found it, there's no reason for me to look for it." Gary replied. "Nothing I can do about it, after all."

Reginald twitched for a few seconds before lashing his fists upwards, his eyes turning red.

"**DAAAAAAAAAAH!"**

"_How could this happen?! We turned the place inside out trying to find the idol and all of a sudden SANDY finds it?" Elias said flatly. "This doesn't bode well for us, because that idol could mean the difference between safety and elimination for us."_

"_Those two need to lighten up a bit. I mean, if Sandy's already got the idol, it's not like we can do anything about it." Gary shrugged._

"Hey, guys! We've got treemail!" Mel called out as she entered camp.

"So what's it say?" Krash asked.

"It's wondering how well we'd fare at one-on-one challenges." Mel noted before pausing. "I'm not sure if I like the sound of this. The other team's got a lot of strong players."

"Then I guess we'll just have to hope it's a trivia challenge, then." Reginald smirked.

"One-on-one trivia challenges?" Mel asked. "I doubt it."

"_I kinda figured the fact that our stronger players aren't as strong as the ones on the other tribe would eventually catch up to us." Mel folded her arms. "We're going to have to hope that the challenge doesn't revolve around anything physical…"_

**(Xon Tribe; Day 10)**

"_After Kendall's little outburst on Erica yesterday, I needed to say a few things to the people that are apparently aligned with him." Inferno noted. "I can't fault Grace and Jack for not knowing about Kendall's true nature beforehand, but I still need to set a few things straight with them."_

"Why didn't you two try to stop him?" Inferno asked. "What Kendall did really did nothing but isolate himself."

"Hey, I tried to talk him out of it. He was dead set on flapping his yap once he felt confident." Jack insisted.

"It wasn't my idea, either. I didn't even know Kendall was going to do that until after JACK told me." Grace added.

"_It sucks that I gotta cover my hide this early, but Kendall's doing nothing but making a target out of me for associating with him." Jack said. "If Inferno's gonna start pinning blame, I need to make sure I had nothing to do with whatever's happened."_

"_I may have befriended Inferno back in season three, but that doesn't mean the two of us see eye to eye on everything." Grace pointed out. "The fact that our personalities are conflicting this time prevented us from aligning again, and I feel that if I DID align with him, he'd probably get the better of me and vote me out before too long."_

"Just remember to watch yourselves around him." Inferno reminded. "He's doing neither of you any favours right now."

"I know. Believe me, I know." Grace sighed. "This really isn't going the way I was hoping."

"Yeah. My choice in alliance partners was even worse this time than last time." Jack added.

"Guys, we've got some treemail." Renaldo announced as he entered camp. "We've got a challenge ahead of us."

"Something tells me that it's going to be a Reward." Erica noted with a smirk.

"What's this one say, Renaldo?" Edwina asked.

"It's wondering how comfortable we are with some one-on-one challenges." Renaldo said. "So…Similar challenge to that boomerang-throwing challenge?"

"Sounds like it." Edwina shrugged.

"_Challenges like this could either go well or bad for us depending on what the focus of the challenge will be." Edwina said. "I've been trying to piece together possible challenges in my head, but there's really only a few possibilities in this case where luck may be on our side…"_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The Arkos Tribe stood on their mat by the beach, waiting for the challenge to begin. The Xon Tribe's mat was, at the moment, empty.

"Before we start, let's bring out the Xon Tribe." SSBFreak said as the losing tribe emerged from the jungle and walked into view. It was quickly seen who was missing. "Anita was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

"Hmm…Didn't see that coming." Molly noted as the Xon Tribe stepped onto their mat.

"Welcome to your first Reward Challenge, everyone. Here, we will be seeing how well you fare in one-on-one battles against the other team." SSBFreak said as everyone suddenly became aware of the large platform out in the water. "You will take turns having one-on-one battles out on the platform, trying to knock your opponent into the water with a weighted bag. If you knock your opponent into the water, you score a point for your team, and the first team to score five points will win Reward, which is a machete and two bags of rice for the tribe." He looked at the tribe with the bigger numbers. "Arkos Tribe, you have one extra member. Who will be sitting out?"

"Risk damaging my cuteness? I'll sit out, thanks." Chloe said.

"Okay. If you'll all choose your warriors, we can begin." SSBFreak said.

**(Later…)**

The first two up were Molly and Edwina. The two small girls eyed each other, trying to come up with strategies to win.

"The first battle is Molly vs. Edwina." SSBFreak said. "START!"

The two leapt at each other, swinging their weapons. Molly ducked under Edwina's blow and struck Edwina in the face with her bag, disorienting her. Molly quickly rushed forward and used her bag as a plow, rapidly pushing Edwina towards the edge.

By the time Molly let go of her, Edwina was close to the edge. Edwina tried to recover, but Molly quickly lashed out again, this time at Edwina's legs. The Scribblenaut was tripped up and toppled headfirst into the water.

"Molly scores the first point for Arkos." SSBFreak announced.

"Against anyone else, I probably would have lost." Molly smirked.

**(Later…)**

Mel and Inferno were next. Mel looked like she was trying to look confident, but Inferno looked a lot more-relaxed than she did.

"Next up is Mel vs. Inferno." SSBFreak said. "START!"

Inferno stood his ground as Mel rushed him. The blue haired man held up his bag and blocked Mel's blow, and continued to hold firm against a barrage of blocks from the dark haired tech geek.

"You can't win by blocking alone!" Mel said.

"I know, but you're not going to win either if you're doing nothing but tire yourself out." Inferno said with a smirk.

Mel's eyes widened when she realized Inferno was simply biding his time. Inferno made his move and lashed out, striking Mel in the face and stunning her. Inferno was quick to run around Mel and shove her off the platform.

"Inferno ties the game at 1 for Xon."

"That was too easy." Inferno said, putting a hand into his pocket.

**(Later…)**

Krash and Grace were next. Krash looked like he was psyching himself up while Grace appeared to be in thought about something.

"Next is Krash vs. Grace." SSBFreak announced. "START!"

Krash ran at Grace and held his bag above his head. Grace stood her ground.

"Wait!" Grace said, causing Krash to come to a halt. "Your shoelace is untied."

"Oh, thanks!" Krash said as he bent over, then stopped. "Wait. I'm not wearing shoes."

By the time Krash realized his error, Grace had already shoved him off the platform and into the water.

"Grace gives Xon a 2-1 lead."

"I can't believe that actually worked." Grace sighed in relief.

**(Later…)**

Elias stood on one end of the platform and Jack on the other. The two men eyed each other suspiciously, wondering if the other would be trying any underhanded tricks to win.

"Next is Elias vs. Jack." SSBFreak announced. "START!"

Instead of rushing each other like the previous fights, the two opponents slowly circled each other, trying to decide on how to win. This continued for several seconds.

"Someone DO something!" Kendall shouted.

Elias acted first and swung his bag at Jack's side, but the koopa managed to hold up his own bag and blocked the blow. Jack acted quickly and pushed Elias back, causing him to lean towards the edge of the platform. Elias managed to regain his footing, but by that time, Jack had just managed to push him over the edge and into the water.

"Jack brings Xon's lead to 3-1."

"That wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be." Jack shrugged.

**(Later…)**

Reginald and Kendall were next. There was a huge size difference between the two; one that Kendall didn't seem very amused with.

"You're KIDDING me." Kendall said flatly.

"Next is Reginald vs. Kendall." SSBFreak said. "START!"

Reginald approached Kendall and towered over him. "Do you REALLY want to do this?" He asked.

Kendall looked up at Reginald for a few seconds before turning around. "Nope." He said as he voluntarily jumped off the platform.

"Reginald scores Arkos' second point to make it 3-2."

"I got lucky there." Reginald said, shaking his head. "Lucky that I was pitted against someone so small…"

**(Later…)**

The two strongest players, Gary and Barney, were next. The two looked at each other, Gary looking laid-back as usual.

"Next is Gary vs. Barney." SSBFreak said. "START!"

The two strongmen exchanged blows a few times, but it was clear that there was no obvious winner at the start. Every time one landed a blow, the other landed one right after it. It seemed like this round could literally go either way.

The two ended up close to the edge of the platform, and Barney decided to act first, leaping at Gary and shoving him off the platform, although falling off after him at the same time. Gary and Barney both hit the water, but Gary went down first.

"Barney managed to outlast Gary and thus scores Xon's fourth point."

"That was a little too close." Renaldo sighed.

**(Later…)**

The next duo was Tempo and Renaldo. The two looked relatively indifferent, although Tempo was looking a little pressured.

"The next round is Tempo vs. Renaldo, and Tempo needs to win this to keep his team alive. If Renaldo wins, the challenge is over." SSBFreak said. "START!"

Tempo approached first and swung his bag downwards. Renaldo held up his bag and blocked the overhead blow, but before the faceless man could try to get a hit in, Tempo attacked again.

Renaldo found himself blocking a few times, and when he finally saw a chance to attack, he did. However, Tempo was quick to block the blow, and the couple others that followed it.

"You're going to have to try harder than that." Tempo said.

Tempo ended up pushing Renaldo towards the edge of the platform simply by stepping forward and blocking as Renaldo attacked.

However, just as Renaldo noticed that he was getting close to falling over, he leapt forward and slid on the ground between Tempo's legs. Before Tempo realized what had happened, Renaldo had jumped up and smashed his bag into Tempo's back, sending the brown-haired man over the edge and into the water.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Xon wins Reward!"

Renaldo sighed in relief and rotated his sore arms. "I'm not sure how much longer I could have done that…" He said.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Xon. Here is the machete and bags of rice for you to use at camp." SSBFreak said as Renaldo picked up the machete. At the same time, Barney had picked up both bags of rice himself. SSBFreak turned to the losing tribe. "Arkos, I have nothing for you. You're just going to hope that you can do better in tomorrow's Immunity Challenge. You can all head back to camp."

**(Xon Tribe)**

"Well, that went over surprisingly well." Barney noted.

"I'm just glad that I didn't get called up to battle." Erica sighed. "By process of elimination, I would have been pitted against Sandy. There's no WAY I could have won."

"We got lucky, then. I'm not complaining." Barney shrugged.

"_Having lost the last two challenges, it feels good to win one again. We haven't won a challenge since day three." Barney noted. "If anything, this victory is sure to bring the tribe morale up a few notches."_

"And that move you did at the end was awesome, Renaldo!" Edwina said. "Where'd you learn that kind of maneuverability?"

"My training." Renaldo rubbed the back of his head. "I just pretended that Tempo was a psychotic, undead clown armed with a stop sign and hell-bent on my bloody demise." The others in the tribe stared with wide eyes and unusual glances. "Uh…It's a long story."

"_Seriously. Even by the others' standards, I'm sure the stuff that happens where I come from is sure to surprise most of them." Renaldo admitted. "I mean, heck, Hank's been killed more times than I remember and it STILL hasn't been able to stop him for good."_

"Well, the point is that we won. Now we got a little extra to eat." Grace said.

"That's good. We haven't been able to catch fish lately." Jack scratched his head.

Grace paused. "Yeah. I was hoping for a fishing rod as the reward. We could have used it more." She admitted.

"_It's hard catching fish without a fishing rod. Barney suggested trying to catch fish bear-style like Sandy did back in season one, but all I ended up with was a stiff back." Grace rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I'm not going to be doing THAT again."_

"Now we just need to hope for a repeat performance tomorrow." Edwina shrugged. "Think we can pull it off?"

"Totally. Now that we're picking up steam, we can plow through the others." Inferno assured.

"I wouldn't get too confident yet." Renaldo piped up. "We obviously won't know what we're up against until tomorrow."

"Eh, let us have our victory for today, man." Inferno shrugged.

"Yeah. After those two losses, I'll take what we get." Jack shrugged.

"_There's no way I'm letting a pessimist rain on our parade today. He means well and I'm pretty sure that attitude isn't intentional, but Renaldo's a bit of a Negative Ned." Inferno pointed out. "I never really knew him in season three because we were never on the same tribe, but Edwina seemed to speak highly about him."_

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"That SUCKS. We totally could have won that." Chloe folded her arms.

"You didn't even PLAY." Molly lifted an eyebrow.

"I know, but a couple of rounds were so close and I know Sandy could have won her round!" Chloe insisted. "I KNEW we should have put Sandy up earlier!"

"_Sandy's one of our toughest players, but Elias and Reginald didn't want to put her out until the end." Chloe folded her arms. "Sure, they could be saving her for last or something, but we REALLY needed that win."_

"Ah, who needs rice, anyway? We got plenty of food around here." Sandy waved it off.

"You mean the fruit we've gotten sick on or the fish that only you can seem to catch without a fishing pole?" Reginald rolled his eyes.

"The answer to both is yes, fuzz-butt." Sandy interjected cheerfully.

Reginald blinked a few times. "Sandy, if that's your new nickname for me, I STRONGLY recommend that you go back to 'Reggie'."

"_I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'd almost PREFER Sandy to call me Reggie for the game than hear her call me fuzz-butt one more time." Reginald said flatly._

"Even still, we're going to need a better way to get food if we can't win it in challenges." Tempo said. "We should at least have someone else to get fish."

"Here, Chloe. I'll teach you how to fish my way." Sandy said as she took the small panda's hand. "At least that way we'd have more people capable of fishing like I do."

"Uh…That's not quite what I meant." Tempo said.

"_I meant that someone should create a makeshift fishing rod or something. If Sandy's taking the time to teach someone ELSE how to fish like a bear, it'll waste too much time." Tempo moaned._

"Um…Is that such a good idea?" Krash asked, following Sandy as she took Chloe to the beach. "I mean, I've seen the fish you catch and Chloe's gotta be smaller than some of them."

"Nonsense, Krash! This is a perfectly-logical and normal way to catch fish!...In Canada!...So I heard!" Sandy said happily.

Mel looked at the others. "Is anyone going to stop her?" She asked.

Elias shrugged. "No skin off MY back."

"It gets Sandy out of my hair." Molly added.

"I have better things to do." Reginald shrugged.

"Alright, just checking." Mel replied.

"_I guess everyone sane enough to know not to bother with Sandy." Mel shrugged. "Well…Everyone except Krash, but I guess that's to be expected."_

The two teams went to bed when night rolled in. Everyone knew that there was an Immunity Challenge the next day and they needed to be ready for it.

**(Xon Tribe; Day 11)**

"So what seems to be the plan?" Renaldo asked Edwina as the two sat on their usual spot on one of the ledges. "I mean, the others seem intent on voting out Kendall, so maybe that's the best way to go."

"You'd think that, right?" Edwina added. "But the problem with that is that it will leave us vulnerable afterwards."

Renaldo sighed. "Please tell me you're not thinking of blindsiding someone against the wishes of everyone else." He moaned.

"Why not? Kendall's a free pass at this point."

"_Because Kendall's made the others mad at him, this will make future votes easier for Renaldo and I to survive." Edwina said. "If we try to find a way to keep Kendall, at least for now, then it'll be like using him as a shield of sorts to keep attention off of us."_

"_Okay, so for the record, this ISN'T my idea." Renaldo pointed out flatly._

"Even if we DID decide to keep Kendall, who else could we afford to lose?" Renaldo asked. "I mean, it's stupid to vote out the strong guys and I really don't think anyone will be voting for Erica after Kendall taunted her like that."

"Well, that only leaves us with Grace and Jack, then." Edwina assured.

Renaldo sighed.

"Hey, you two! We've got treemail!" Erica called out from the ground.

Edwina looked at Renaldo as she got up. "We'll decide on what to do later." She said. "It shouldn't take us too long."

Edwina and Renaldo walked down to where everyone else was, seeing Erica with the letter that had come. Erica tore open the treemail and read the note.

"It's wondering how well we can combine carrying and balance." Erica said.

"Great. Another one of these challenges." Kendall muttered, arms folded. "I still remember that one we had back in our season."

"We still didn't see it yet." Barney reminded.

"Tell me again when I care."

"_Balancing, I've got no problem with. It's just that when I'm forced to carry something WHILE I'm balancing, it gives me a bit of trouble." Kendall pointed out. "Somehow, I feel that the people in charge want to make sure a monkey isn't given an unfair advantage in a balancing task."_

"_I think he's just upset because that challenge made him look like a disgrace to monkeys." Erica said with a smirk._

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 11)**

"So how goes the fishing training?" Gary asked as he came over to the beach.

Sandy and Chloe were knee-deep in the water, crouched over like bears and waiting in anticipation for fish to arrive. Needless to say, the two weren't moving a muscle.

"They've been like that for about twenty minutes now." Krash pointed out.

"It's starting to creep me out, myself." Tempo said. "I've never known Chloe to stand in one place for so long."

"It's indeed a little strange." Gary shrugged.

"_Chloe was a bundle of energy in our season, so seeing her standing still and not moving a muscle almost seems out of character for her." Gary shrugged. "Not a lot takes me by surprise, but I'll admit I stumbled for a bit there."_

"How the heck does anyone have the patience to catch a fish like that, anyway?" Tempo asked.

Krash shrugged. "You get used to it. It's not as bad as it seems." He said.

"Wait. You know how to catch fish like that?" Tempo asked. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Scratching his head a few times, Krash shrugged again. "Nobody asked."

"_Seriously. How are people going to learn anything if they don't ask?" Krash asked._

"We've got treemail, everyone." Elias announced. "It's time for the next challenge."

Sandy bounded out of the water. "Oh, goody-goody-gumdrops! What's it say, Disney?" She asked.

"Stop calling me that!" Elias shouted.

"Now you know how I feel." Reginald said with a smirk.

"_When I get back home, I'm either changing my hairstyle or shaving off my mustache." Elias said flatly. "There's no way anyone at the studio's going to let me live this one down."_

"Looks like we've got a challenge involving carrying and balancing at the same time." Elias noted.

"That could mean anything, though." Mel scratched her head.

"Well, we're not getting anywhere just standing around." Molly said. "Where do we need to go? Let's get this over with."

"_Win or lose, I know I'm in a good position. We obviously don't know if the idol's been found yet, but I'm pretty sure that whoever finds it won't waste it on me." Molly said with a smirk. "If I can find a way to get everyone to focus on each other, then the idol isn't needed yet."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The two teams emerged from the jungle and into a clearing. Waling over to their tribe mats, everyone stepped on to wait for the challenge to begin.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will be testing how much you can carry and how well you can balance it." SSBFreak said as everyone saw a pile of clay pots sitting behind him. "You will each be given a plank, and you must as many clay pots on it as you think you can carry, up to ten at once. Then, you must carry the pots a hundred feet down this clearing and cross the indicated line before putting the pots down and going back for more. The team that carries the most pots across the line in a three-minute time limit will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council." He looked at the Arkos Tribe again. "Arkos, you still have an extra player. Who is sitting out this time?"

"I will." Molly held up a hand.

"Okay. If everyone else will take their positions, we can begin." SSBFreak said.

**(Later…)**

The participating players were lined up behind the starting line, looking at the pile of clay pots a hundred feet away. Each player was armed with a plank.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready?..." SSBFreak said. "…GO!"

The contestants took off and raced across the clearing, easily running a hundred feet to the pile of pots to start the challenge.

Barney and Gary were gathering up groups of ten pots, as they would obviously have the easiest time carrying them. People like Erica and Chloe wouldn't be able to carry that many, so they were forced to max out at around five or six.

Sandy was the first to finish putting pots on her plank (around seven) and stood up with the plank over her shoulder. Rather than taking her time in trying to balance the plank, Sandy raced back to the starting line, dropping a number of the pots she was carrying. By the time she crossed the line, only two of the seven pots were still on the plank.

"You could have done that a lot better, Sandy." SSBFreak said flatly.

"I got us a couple of points, though!" Sandy said happily as she tossed the pots onto her tribe's mat and ran back for another load.

On her way back, Sandy passed Krash and Inferno, who were coming back with several pots each, although they were walking at a more-reserved pace to make sure things were balanced.

"She's sure in a hurry." Inferno glanced back as he steadied himself to prevent a pot from falling.

Krash shrugged. "You get used to it." He said as he continued walking without looking back.

Barney and Gary had each loaded up their planks with ten pots and were slowly bringing them back to the starting point. The two strongmen appeared to be treading carefully so they didn't drop anything.

Sandy suddenly ran by them, having picked up another small load of pots, and dropping them as she went.

"She's already going for a second round?" Barney asked.

"She hasn't been scoring a lot, though." Gary added.

Barney smirked. "Careful you don't throw your back out, old man." He said.

"I'm not THAT old." Gary noted. "I'm only in my forties…"

"You're still older than I am, so that gives me the edge." Barney taunted as he started walking ahead at a quicker pace.

Elias and Reginald were walking at a decent pace, but were only carrying a few pots each, Mel was right behind them and carrying just as much.

"How are our chances?" Elias asked. "It looks like Chloe and Erica are at the back, there."

"Kendall's not doing that well, either." Reginald noted. "That may give us a bit of an edge."

"Also note that they have Barney AND Inferno." Mel interjected.

Reginald paused, then narrowed his eyes. "She's got a point. Gary's the only real strong person we've got."

"What about Krash?"

"We'll have to try and get him to pick up some of the slack." Reginald muttered.

"Here he comes now." Elias said.

Krash was running back for another load when he saw Reginald looking at him. Figuring that he wanted something, Krash quickly went over. "What's up?"

"Try and carry as much as you can. We're going to need everything we can get." Reginald instructed.

Grace, Jack and Tempo were close to the back, with Edwina and Renaldo a bit behind them. Grace and Jack had just managed to drop off four pots each for their team while Tempo had dropped off five for his.

"Looks like I'm going to need to try harder to get ahead of him." Grace muttered to herself as she ran after Tempo, who was already on his way back to the pile of pots. Sandy, in the meantime, was already on her way back with her third round.

Tempo looked back at Grace as she was running behind him and smirked. "Looks like I've got a little bit more athleticism than you two!" He called out.

"You wish! I'm conserving energy!" Grace shot back.

"Wait up, will you?!" Jack asked.

"Why the heck is everyone talking to their opponents?" Renaldo asked as he and Edwina arrived back at the start and dropped what they had carried off.

Kendall was struggling to carry the plank of pots with him, dropping one every so often. He had started his run with five pots, but at this point he was only carrying two and it still looked like he didn't have control over his balance.

Erica saw him struggling as she approached him from behind. "How's that monkey balance working out for you, shmuck-o?" She asked.

"Don't test me, goth girl." Kendall snapped.

"Fantastic comeback. I'm sure you're quite the stand-up comic back in the jungle." Erica smirked.

"You guys are weird." Chloe said as she walked past the two.

The contestants continued to carry their pots for a while before SSBFreak spoke up. "Okay, everyone! Step it up! You've got one minute left!" He announced.

That seemed to get everyone to move faster, although a lot of people were dropping more pots as they moved because of the added speed. This did little to slow anyone down, much-less Sandy who was now only scoring a point at a time every time she reached the starting line again.

"Maybe I'm going about this wrong…" Sandy scratched her head.

"You're just figuring that out NOW?!" Molly asked.

Edwina and Renaldo were struggling to keep up with the leaders at this point, and had already dropped a couple of pots on their way back to the start.

"I just hope this is enough." Renaldo grunted.

"We gotta hope, at the very least." Edwina shook her head.

Barney dropped off another round of pots as he watched Krash coming back with a full load of ten. Seeing that the kremling was a lot stronger than he thought, Barney decided to pick up the pace and looked at Inferno.

"We may want to step it up." Barney said.

"Yeah. You don't have to tell me twice." Inferno added.

Jack was starting to tire out as he continued to work against the clock. He was catching up to Mel, who was looking similarly –short of breath Jack hauled his plank onto his shoulders again, this time attempting seven pots.

"Gotta catch up. This isn't good." Jack shook his head as he raced after Mel, who had just left with another load.

Mel looked back and saw that Jack was approaching. Mel tried to pick up the pace, but ended up dropping a pot as she did. Jack had also dropped a couple of pots by this point.

SSBFreak looked at his watch as the contestants continued to get as many points as they could within the limit. He counted down the seconds before time finally expired. When it did, SSBFreak looked up. "Okay, everyone! Time's up! Stop what you're doing!"

Elias sighed. "That was harder than I thought." He admitted.

"We'll take a moment to tally up the scores that each team got and we'll get back to you after we finalize the challenge winner." SSBFreak explained.

**(Later…)**

The two teams waited anxiously on their mats, wondering how the challenge had gone.

"Okay. The scores are in, and we have a very-clear winner. The winning team won with a score of 47 to 32." SSBFreak explained. "A lot of last-minute points were racked up, but in the end there was only one winner, and that winner was…"

The two teams waited nervously.

"…The Arkos Tribe! Arkos wins Immunity again!"

The Arkos Tribe cheered in victory as the Xon Tribe looked frustrated at losing yet another challenge.

"Congratulations, Arkos Tribe. You are all immune again and will be safe for another few days out here." SSBFreak said before turning to the losing tribe. "Xon Tribe, I'll be seeing you again at Tribal Council tonight, where another of your own will be voted out of the game. You need to determine who among you is key to cutting from the tribe in order to end this losing streak. I'll give you the rest of the day to make your decision, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(Xon Tribe)**

"Why do we keep losing?!" Grace asked, holding her head. "That was the third time in a row we've lost Immunity!"

"I must be out of practice. I never had a losing streak like this back in the first season." Barney shook his head.

"_Well, we lost Immunity again and we have to vote off someone else. Now, Kendall is obviously the favourite going in, but I want to try and see if the others can vote out Jack instead." Edwina said. "I mean, Jack's a way bigger threat than Kendall is now thanks to Kendall's little outburst, so that may make Jack a better target early on."_

"Why do you want to spare Kendall?" Inferno asked. "He's asking to get voted out."

"He's basically a free pass, guys." Edwina pointed out. "We can take him out whenever we want, but I think Jack is a bigger threat than he is at the moment."

Erica sighed. "I spent way too much time with Kendall last season because we pictured him as a goat." She explained. "Believe me, it'll be near-impossible to get rid of him later."

"Just for one round, okay?"

"_I really don't want to do this, but we need the votes of Edwina and Renaldo for this one, and if they're choosing sides, then we need to follow them." Erica sighed. "Saving Kendall appears to be Edwina's idea, because frankly I don't see Renaldo coming up with something like this, no offense to him of course."_

Meanwhile, Renaldo was talking to Kendall, relaying the information to him.

"So Edwina's looking to spare me this round?" Kendall asked.

"Yeah. In turn, she wants to vote out Jack because he's a bigger threat." Renaldo shrugged. "You okay with that?"

"More than you think, believe me." Kendall said with a smirk.

"_This is good. I was actually planning on using my idol at council, but if the others are planning to vote out someone else, I won't need it." Kendall admitted. "Besides, I don't really think I have a use for Jack now that I've found the idol, so I'm fine with cutting him loose."_

"Just watch your mouth at council." Renaldo warned. "You say the wrong thing and you'll ruin the entire plan."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know."

A little bit later, Barney walked across the camp, over to where Grace and Jack were. He didn't look very thrilled.

"Guys, there's something you need to know." Barney said. "Edwina's been pitching the idea to keep Kendall and boot Jack."

"Huh?! Edwina wants to KEEP Kendall?" Grace asked.

"Yeah. Something about Jack being a bigger threat."

Jack sighed. "I'm thinking this has more to do with Kendall being a goat." He said.

"That's what I was thinking." Barney nodded.

"_I'm against this idea and I'm going to try to boot Kendall anyway. Goat or not, he's an insufferable little bully that needs to get voted out before he makes the game miserable for everyone else." Barney said. "If I have to vote against my alliance to get rid of him, then so be it."_

"_Looks like my plans are coming back to haunt me earlier than I thought they would." Jack held his head. "I didn't expect to be a target this early, but I'm going to have to be fighting for my survival here, and against someone that would be easier to beat later on…"_

"So what do we do?" Jack asked.

"We try to get Kendall to say the wrong thing at council." Barney suggested.

"Then it'll get your alliance to vote him out anyway." Grace nodded. "It's probably our best shot."

"More like our ONLY shot." Jack muttered.

**(Tribal Council)**

The eight members of Xon walked into Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Finding a spot, everyone sat down as they waited for council to commence.

"Welcome to your third Tribal Council in a row, Xon Tribe. In a moment, you will be voting out yet another of your teammates, which is something you're probably used to by now." SSBFreak said before starting to ask questions. "Renaldo, like I said, this is the third council you guys have been to in a row. Why do you think that is?" He asked.

"Because we suck?" Renaldo asked back. "I mean, we're all returning players, so we all have an understanding on how to play the game, but the other team just seems to have hit a stride that we can't match."

"You're such an optimist." Kendall rolled his eyes.

"You're a fine one to talk." Renaldo countered.

"Erica, the last time you were here, Anita was voted out." SSBFreak explained. "How's it been since then?"

"It's been getting better, although we all obviously miss her." Erica said. "However, Kendall's made it a point of rubbing his minute victory in our faces because the vote went like he so-called 'planned it'."

"Anything to say in your defense, Kendall?"

"Um…Nope. Just speaking the truth, is all." Kendall smirked.

Barney didn't look amused and SSBFreak noticed. "You have a response to that, Barney?" He asked.

"Kendall's nothing but a power-hungry runt that thinks he's in power of everything that goes his way." Barney said. "The way he was taunting Erica earlier caused him to come off as nothing but a bully that gets his kicks out of seeing others suffering."

"That hurts, Barney." Kendall retorted.

"Do you deny it?"

"I only object to the part about me being a bully." Kendall shrugged.

"So you admit to getting enjoyment out of seeing other people suffer." Barney narrowed his eyes.

"Guys, if you will let me continue?" SSBFreak asked. "Grace, how will the vote go tonight?"

"Well, Kendall's obviously the biggest target tonight, although I've heard that someone's trying to save him and vote Jack out instead." Grace said.

"Who would that be?"

"Edwina, although I had to hear it from Barney."

Edwina's eyes widened. "Something wrong, Edwina?" SSBFreak asked.

"I didn't expect to be called out about this. I mean, the fact remains that Kendall's a free pass that we can vote out whenever we want." Edwina insisted. "Jack I see as a threat that could probably get better control of the game than Kendall ever could."

"Do you want to defend yourself, Jack?" The host asked.

"Yeah. I really disagree with me being a big threat, especially after hearing that Erica had to go through so much before she could finally get rid of Kendall back in her season." Jack said. "I think it'd be a mistake to boot me and keep him."

"To make sure that I talk to everyone, where do you sit on this, Inferno?" The host asked.

"I try to vote with my alliance if I can't think of how to vote." Inferno noted. "I'll admit that I know how to vote here, though. It's just a question of how others will vote."

"Okay. I think that's enough questions. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Barney, you're up."

Barney stood up and walked out of the hut to go vote. The strongman approached the voting table, scribbled a name down and put it into the urn before returning to the hut.

Edwina wrote a name down. "This is all for the best." She said as she put her ballot into the jar, turned around and walked away.

Jack approached the table, wrote a name down and showed it. "It was a mistake to align with you." He said, having voted for Kendall.

Erica walked up to the table and wrote a name down. "I wish I could just vote for Kendall." She lamented as she voted and walked away.

Inferno appeared to be in thought as he walked up to the table. The blue-haired man wrote a name down finally and voted before walking away from the table.

Kendall approached the table and wrote a name down, showing it. "Maybe I don't even NEED the idol." He said, having voted for Jack.

Grace sighed as she wrote a name down. "I'm not used to being in the minority like this." She admitted as she voted and walked away.

Renaldo silently approached the table and wrote a name down. He gave a sigh as he put the ballot into the urn and returned to the hut.

Once all eight players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring me their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He said. Kendall remained silent, having decided against playing the idol. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Kendall." Kendall remained silent.

"…Jack." Jack also remained silent.

"Jack. He leads 2-1." Jack glanced around.

"Jack." The shade-wearing koopa bit his lip.

"…Kendall." Kendall took a deep breath,

"Kendall. We're tied at 3." Jack and Kendall exchanged glances.

"…Jack." Jack muttered something under his breath. "Last vote and fourth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Jack. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak explained.

Jack silently stood up and grabbed his torch. "I still think this was a mistake, guys." He warned as he approached the host.

"Jack, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Jack's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"It was fun while it lasted." Jack admitted as he walked out of council and didn't look back.

Once Jack was gone completely, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "And so ends your third Tribal Council. The rest of you are now at a two-person disadvantage and you really can't afford many more losses or else it would put you in a very tight spot." He explained. "There are sixteen players left, and I can only assume that it's going to get even harder from here on out. You can all head back to camp."

The seven remaining Xon players stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Edwina and Renaldo brought up the rear, looking at each other nervously. The way Grace had called Edwina out like that made it apparent that they needed to adopt a new strategy or else the others would be sure to vote them out…

"_I'm bummed for going so early. I was betting that I'd make the merge at the very least. I guess that's what I get for not learning from my mistakes." Jack rolled his eyes. "Still, I enjoyed the opportunity and I'm glad I got the chance. I just wish it could have gone on a bit longer because I know I could have impressed a lot of people."_

**Voting History:**

**Jack – Edwina, Erica, Inferno, Kendall and Renaldo**

**Kendall – Barney, Grace and Jack**

Author's Notes: ...Boy, season two's really on a roll, aren't they?

I didn't have many plans for Jack when I started. In fact, earlier versions of the story included Roscoe instead, but when I realized that he'd be an early boot, I swapped him out for Jack since the two were almost the same character anyway.

Jack originally went a few votes further than this is my first draft, but I changed it when I felt that he didn't really offer much to the story besides stupidly joining Kendall in an alliance.


	6. Days 12 to 14

**(Xon Tribe)**

"_The fact that we've come off our third Tribal Council in a row is pretty degrading in itself, but the fact that Kendall completely turned on us and got Jack voted out makes it even worse." Grace folded her arms. "From the looks of things, I'm on my own for now, but someone voted with us back there…"_

"NOW do you guys see why Kendall isn't to be trusted?" Erica asked. "The fact that we've left him alone for this long has given him the time he's needed to start strategizing."

"Look, Edwina said that it was logically better to boot Jack and we went along with it." Inferno shrugged. "Besides, we can get rid of that mangy runt any time we want, right?"

"That's exactly what I told my alliance members in the last season."

"But something bugs me. There was an extra vote for Kendall." Inferno noted as he glanced at Barney. "Did you vote for him, man?"

"Yes. Sorry, but I'm not about to keep an antagonizing little bully in the game, no matter how sound the logic is." Barney shook his head. "I deal with enough crap like that back home."

"_I'm not ashamed to admit that I tried to get Kendall out at council. I voted against my alliance and I don't regret it in the slightest." Barney narrowed his eyes. "Look, the others may think that keeping Kendall is a good strategic move, but he'd better keep an eye open now because the last thing he wants is me mad."_

As Kendall strolled back to the shelter, whistling almost cheerfully, Renaldo looked at Edwina. "I really don't think we made the right choice, Edwina." He moaned. "Heck, Grace called us out on what we did!"

"I know." Edwina sighed. "We're going to have to play the game a little differently if we're going to last, now."

"But what can we do?" Renaldo asked. "It's just the two of us!"

Edwina appeared to be in thought. "…Maybe not…" She said.

"…I just gave you an idea, didn't I?" Renaldo moaned.

"_If Renaldo and I join up with Grace for real, we'd at least have the numbers tied with the big alliance." Edwina shrugged. "This leaves Kendall square in the middle, and since I doubt he'd be willing to join Erica, he'd be more-likely to join us and give us the majority."_

"It's probably our best bet." Edwina said.

"Well, here comes Grace now, so this is our only chance to put it into action." Renaldo said.

"I'm assuming you two are talking about me?" Grace asked, arms folded, as she came over. "Let me guess: You want to align with me, even though you just helped vote out someone who would have added to the numbers in the first place?"

"Um…Yes?" Renaldo asked.

"Grace, I think it's clear Renaldo and I need some help and I don't think you have any options, either." Edwina said. "Our best bet is to team up, at least for now. We need to get the others down to a manageable number."

Grace appeared to be in thought for a moment, then sighed. "Okay. I'll help out." She said. "I'll admit that I'm not left with a choice, either."

"_That could have ended VERY differently." Renaldo said, rubbing his forehead. "In fact, in my head, it ended about five different ways…"_

The dwindling team decided to go to bed and prepare for the following day. They knew that they would probably need it.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 12)**

Molly was busy trying to put together a flimsy-looking fishing rod as she looked at the beach. She saw everyone else standing at the edge of the beach, while Sandy and Chloe were in the water. Molly gave a frustrated sigh and stood up.

"_Am I the only one around here with a brain? I took it upon myself to make a fishing rod since we could use one, and while I'm doing all the work, everyone else seems to be relaxing on the beach!" Molly said. "What is wrong with these people?!"_

"What seems to be so interesting over here that you're all standing around not doing anything?" Molly asked as she walked over.

"Sandy's teaching Chloe how to fish with her hands." Mel explained. "This is going to be good."

Molly stared flatly. "How exactly is this entertaining?!" She asked.

Gary shrugged. "The end result is apparently what makes it worthwhile." He replied. "Just stick around and watch for it."

"Watch for WHAT?!"

"_I saw how capable of a fisher Sandy was back in season one, and I have confidence that she'll teach Chloe just fine." Gary said. "Frankly, I wanted to see one of these fishing sessions myself just to say that I saw one."_

"Where's Krash?" Molly asked. "Why isn't he on the beach?"

"He's deeper in the water." Elias said. "As soon as it was found out he could catch fish as he swam, we sent him out there."

Meanwhile, Sandy and Chloe were standing perfectly still, hunched over and ready for anything.

"Be ready for it, Chloe." Sandy said. "Wait for the fish to come to you."

"Yeah. That's easy." Chloe nodded.

"Then ease the tension on your body to not be so stiff."

"That's easy, too."

"Now for the part that's not." Sandy said. "Feel the fish…SENSE the fish…BE the fish…"

Chloe closed her eyes and concentrated.

Molly sighed. "This is ridiculous." She said as she held up her makeshift fishing rod. "Look. I made this while you're all preoccupied with-"

Sandy suddenly lashed her hands into the water and pulled them out, revealing that she had caught a huge fish. "GOT IT! WOOHOO!" She cheered as she scampered onto the shore with the thrashing fish in her hands.

Krash suddenly emerged from the water, also holding onto a huge fish with both arms. "This guy's a slippery little bugger!" He said with a smile. "Who's hungry?!"

Chloe, her eyes still closed, shot her hands into the water and pulled out a gigantic fish that looked to be twice as big as she was. The fish thrashed about as Chloe tried to maintain a grip on it, eventually falling into the water while still holding onto the fish.

Stunning everyone, Chloe stood as tall as she could, holding the huge fish in a death grip. "I AM CHLOE! AND I HAVE JUST WRESTLED THE GREAT WHITE SHARK!" She screamed in victory as she hauled the fish onto the shore.

Molly stared at the makeshift rod in her hand before silently breaking it over her knee.

_A soaking-wet Chloe sat in front of the camera, beaming like she had just won the million dollars. "That was AWESOME! I can't believe I actually DID that! Did you SEE?!" She asked excitedly. "I just caught a freaking HUGE fish with my BARE HANDS!"_

_Sandy also sat in front of the camera, sniffing and wiping away a tear proudly. "I have taught her well." She said._

**(Xon Tribe; Day 12)**

"_I'm in a great position right now. I didn't even NEED to use the idol last night, so I've got some added assurance for later." Kendall smirked. "These idiots can hate me all they want now, because that just means they'll vote for me no matter what and I'll stun them with the idol."_

"Thank you SO much for keeping me last night." Kendall told Erica and Inferno with a smirk. "It wouldn't be as fun taunting you from the Loser's Lodge."

"Believe me, I really wished I could have voted your hide out of the game." Erica said, eyes narrowed. "But that only would have gotten a tie."

"Ah, there's the old Erica that I remember." Kendall taunted. "What happened to that fangirl side of you?"

"You've done nothing but ruin my experience out here with your presence!" Erica shot back. "I want nothing more than to enjoy myself out here, but you're making that impossible!"

"Then I guess that means I'm doing my job." Kendall folded his arms. "The last thing I want is for any of you to have fun."

"_When I heard I was coming back for All Stars, I was beyond excited. Then I find out I'm on the same tribe as Kendall and he's been making the experience miserable." Erica sighed. "I just want to get rid of him so I can actually go back to enjoying the game."_

As Kendall walked off, Inferno looked down at Erica. "Okay. You were right. I think we made a mistake." He admitted.

Erica sighed. "It's too late, now. We need to get rid of him the first chance we can get." She said.

"_Yeesh, suddenly I'm not that upset that Barney didn't vote with us last night. Looking back on it, Erica and I probably should have done the same." Inferno rubbed his head. "This isn't good, because it'll just make the two of us, me especially, look bad in the eyes of the others for making such a bone-headed decision…"_

Meanwhile, Barney was building a makeshift fishing rod (that looked much better than the one Molly had tried to make) when Edwina came walking over to him.

"Barney…Can I ask you something?" Edwina asked.

"That depends." Barney replied simply.

"Why'd you sell Renaldo and I out?" Edwina asked. "Grace said that you told her how we were voting."

Barney glanced at Edwina. "Edwina, I don't tolerate bullies in this game. How do you think I'd react to a plan that tries to KEEP the bully?" He asked.

"You'd…Go against it?"

"Right. Sorry and it's not like I have anything against you, but it was your idea to keep Kendall." Barney replied.

"_Kendall's doing a fantastic job on making everyone hate him. Even Edwina, the person who seemed to be behind keeping him, is expressing second thoughts." Barney explained. "Still, it's too late to change what she did. Even after Kendall goes, her choice will likely make her a big target with Erica and the other season five players."_

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"_I may be aligned with Molly, but I'm smart enough to know that I need a backup plan. It's no secret that Molly isn't exactly popular out here, and if she goes, I'm alone." Mel folded her arms. "I'm going to need some kind of backup alliance, and I think I know where to go…"_

"You want to form an alliance with Chloe and I?" Tempo asked.

"I think it'd work best for all of us." Mel nodded. "Look, I know you and Chloe are aligned with Sandy and Krash. Sooner or later, those two are going to get voted out."

Tempo glanced back as Chloe and Sandy were still celebrating over their catch of fish. "Yeah. Sandy's too crazy and Krash…Well, he'd be a physical threat." He admitted.

"All three of us need some added assurance out here." Mel said. "If we can just stay in contact with each other, then we'd at least have a leg up on the others."

Tempo nodded. "I'll think about it. It's a tempting offer." He admitted.

"_Mel's one of those people that have changed their gameplay dramatically, and thus I can't get a good reading off of her since I only know her as a timid little girl that needed to rely on people most of the time." Tempo said. "Until I can get a better understanding of this new Mel, I'll go along with what she's saying. For all I know, she's secretly a schemer that plans to pull one over on me…"_

Meanwhile, Elias was walking from the campfire, where he was holding a helping of fish, and saw Reginald sitting by an out-of-the-way tree, working on something. Lifting an eyebrow, Elias walked over.

"What are you doing NOW?" Elias asked.

"Making a fake idol." Reginald said, trying to tie a coloured stone to a piece of wood.

"We already know that Sandy has the real one." Elias said flatly.

"Anything to instill some kind of doubt into her warped mind."

"_If I construct this idol and get someone like Sandy to find it, she may think that Molly crafted the real idol into a fake and play this one instead." Reginald said. "Anything to make her think that idol she has is actually a fake. Heck, for all I know, it may BE a fake and the real one's still in play."_

"We both know Sandy isn't as stupid as she comes off as." Elias said. "How exactly do you plan on making this work?"

"I'll cross that bridge when I get there." Reginald assured. "I just need to make sure that she finds it, and shows it to her alliance."

"I still think this is a lost cause."

"You want to sit around and let that lunatic blindside us with the idol? Be my guest." Reginald said sharply. "I'm actually going to DO something about it."

"_Perhaps it's the fact that I'm getting a bit older, but I've gained a fair amount of common sense since the first season and I know what people like Sandy are capable of." Elias folded his arms. "Call it being paranoid if you want, but I seem to recall Sandy saying she was an ACCOUNTANT. Crazy or not, that tells me that there's actually a brain in there somewhere, and one that is fully-capable of determining if an idol's fake or not."_

**(Xon Tribe)**

"Ugh…It's not there, either." Grace said as she walked away from a bush. "This is getting frustrating. Where the heck is it?"

"What?" Renaldo asked as he wandered over.

"The idol. I've been looking for that stupid thing non-stop for the last few days and there's still no sign of it." Grace replied. "How'd we find the idol so quickly back in season three, anyway?"

"Uh…Because they were hidden in plain view?"

"…Oh, yeah."

"_The idols back in season three were easy to find, but I guess that was why it took us so long to find them." Grace noted. "Here, like then, we weren't given any clues as to where the idol is, so we have to literally turn this camp inside out trying to find it. Something tells me the idol's right under our noses and we're missing something…"_

"So how goes the attempt to get more votes?" Grace asked. "Is Edwina talking to Kendall?"

"Yeah. It'd probably be easy to get his vote, at least." Renaldo said. "But something tells me there's going to be a catch with this…"

"You never know. For all we know, Kendall's just as desperate for votes."

Renaldo was silent, but he still looked a little uneasy.

"_Kendall's proven to everyone that he doesn't like us and I think he'd take whatever opportunity he gets to screw the rest of us over. I know I'm a pessimist, but I've got a good feeling that I'm right." Renaldo folded his arms. "Something about Kendall rubs me the wrong way. He reminds me…Kinda of Tricky, if he were a monkey instead of a psychotic clown zombie."_

"Okay, guys. I talked to Kendall and asked if he could vote with us." Edwina said as she came over.

"What'd he say?" Grace asked.

"He said he's in…But on one condition."

Grace was silent for a couple of seconds. "What's that?" She asked hesitantly.

"That we vote out Barney."

This threw Grace for a loop. "What?! Barney's our strongest player! Why would Kendall want to vote him out?!" She asked.

"He wants us all miserable and he wants to make as many of us suffer as he can. I freaking KNEW I was right about this." Renaldo moaned.

"_Why is Kendall thinking he can corner us into voting out our strongest player?! Doesn't he see he's on the outs here?!" Grace asked. "I mean, it's 3-3-1 here! I don't see how Kendall thinks he is in control of the vote!"_

"_There are people who exist solely to watch others suffer. These people think they're better than everyone else and make it their mission to screw with everyone else." Edwina rolled her eyes. "Kendall is one of those people, and he's trying to get our votes here, but in all reality, it should be the other way around. I mean, how does he intend to get control here, anyway?"_

Night eventually rolled in for the two teams. Knowing that there would be a challenge the following day, everyone went to bed to be ready for it.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 13)**

"_Chloe hung out with Sandy most of yesterday, so I didn't get the chance to tell her about Mel coming to me for an alliance." Tempo said. "So, when she got up this morning, the first thing I did was pull her aside to talk to her about what happened."_

"So…Wait. Mel wants to join us?" Chloe asked.

"The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. We can't hide behind Sandy and Krash forever. Sooner or later, they'll both be eliminated." Tempo noted in thought. "Chloe, we're going to need some kind of backup plan and Mel's offering it to us."

"Well…I don't really wanna back away from Sandy though. She's too fun to hang around with." Chloe lamented.

"I know you think that, Chloe. That's why we'll stick with Sandy and Krash, but try to keep Mel in the swing of things as well."

"Sweetcakes!"

"_I was worried for a second there. Sandy's awesome and the last thing I wanna do is vote her out." Chloe shrugged. "I know that the others would vote her out eventually just because she's who she is, but I'm not gonna have any part in that."_

"Looks like we've got some treemail, everyone." Gary announced as he walked into camp.

"Time for the challenge then." Mel nodded.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Gary noted. "It says to expect the unexpected."

"Why does that sound familiar?" Krash scratched his head.

"Because that usually means there's a tribal swap coming up." Reginald sighed. "Great."

"_I've never really experienced a tribal swap before, so I'm a little excited to see what'll happen." Krash shrugged. "…Although I hope that my alliance still ends up on the same tribe. It would suck if we got split up and were outnumbered…"_

"Tribal swaps could make things interesting. Back in my season, I remember things getting a little hectic." Gary noted in thought.

"I'm not looking forward to this. I just know we're going to get screwed over from this…" Reginald muttered.

"Don't worry, Reggie." Sandy said brightly. "We'll recover from this minor setback faster than you can say 'Poit'!"

Reginald stared flatly. "…Sandy, we'll be half-way to TOBAGO before I say 'Poit'." He replied.

"And now you just jinxed yourself." Sandy taunted. "It's a guarantee that you'll say that word before this episode's done."

"…What are you even TALKING about?!"

**(Xon Tribe; Day 13)**

Kendall walked through the camp, towards the treemail box, looking to be in thought.

"Chances are they won't want to target Barney, but if they need my vote like they say they do, I should have no problem getting the vote to go my way." Kendall said with a smirk.

"_So Edwina came to me yesterday and told me that they wanted me to join them and take out the other alliance. While I'm all for that, I want to get rid of the best players right away and make it harder for my tribe to win challenges." Kendall said, flashing a smirk. "Barney's really been ticking me off lately, so I'm going to try and get him voted off first."_

"I'll need to see how the vote's going to go. I've still got the idol and I could always use it…" Kendall pondered as he looked into the treemail box and pulled out a letter. "Here we go…"

Meanwhile, the trio of Barney, Erica and Inferno were talking by the fire pit, each one discussing the same thing.

"Kendall needs to go. There's no two ways about it." Barney said.

"I know, man. Even though keeping him over Jack was better strategically, I feel kinda dumb doing it." Inferno sighed. "So how do we do this?"

"Hey, there's gotta be a tribal swap coming up soon, right?" Barney shrugged. "If some of us get swapped with Kendall, then we can easily get the other tribe to vote with us."

"Not a bad idea." Erica nodded.

"_Basically, we're running with the idea of getting people from the other tribe to help us if we get a tribal swap." Inferno folded his arms. "Erica's always said that Kendall would be impossible to get rid of if he gets too powerful, and we want to take him out now before it's too late."_

"We've got treemail and I think it's going to be big." Kendall announced, showing that he had already read the treemail.

"What do you mean?" Grace asked.

"The treemail was telling us to be prepared for anything." Kendall smirked. "I think we all know what that means."

"Tribal swap." Erica said.

"_This could work out. If the tribal swap is here and now, we may get the chance to take out Kendall that we were looking for." Erica said. "If we get enough allies to join our cause, then it'll be a corner Kendall won't be able to get out of."_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The Arkos Tribe stood on their mat in the middle of a clearing, waiting for the challenge to begin. The Xon mat was once again empty for the time being.

"Before we start, let's bring out the Xon Tribe." SSBFreak said as the losing tribe emerged from the jungle and walked over to their mat. People saw who was absent. "Jack was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

"I wasn't expecting THAT." Tempo lifted an eyebrow as the Xon Tribe stepped onto their mat.

"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, everyone…Is what I would say if we were actually HAVING a challenge today." SSBFreak explained. "There are sixteen of you left, which gives us perfect numbers to work with for mixing the game up a bit."

"It's a Tribal Swap today, isn't it?" Molly asked.

"You'd be right. It's time for some of you to switch tribes." SSBFreak said as he pulled a pink bag from behind his back. "Here's how this is going to work: For the teams to be even, Arkos will need to send four people to Xon, while Xon sends three people to Arkos. In this pink bag are nine stones; Five pink and four purple. The Arkos Tribe members will each take a stone without looking, and when I tell them to reveal, we'll see which four members will be going to Xon."

SSBFreak walked over to the Arkos Tribe and held out the pink bag. The nine members of Arkos blindly pulled out a stone and kept them hidden from view until they had all taken a stone.

"Okay. On my count, reveal your stones and decide your fate." SSBFreak said. "Reveal."

The nine players opened their hands and looked around to see who had gotten the purple stones. The purple stones were quickly spotted, as Krash, Chloe, Tempo and Elias had different coloured stones than the others.

"Okay, with that, we have our verdict. Chloe, Elias, Krash and Tempo are moving to Xon."

"Just like that?" Tempo asked.

"Just like that." SSBFreak nodded as he pulled a purple bag from behind his back. "This is for the Xon Tribe. There are seven stones in here; four of them purple and three of them pink. Obviously, whoever gets the pink stones will be moving to Arkos." He explained.

Again, SSBFreak walked around and held out the bag. Once all seven players of Xon had taken a stone, SSBFreak stepped back.

"Okay…Reveal."

The seven members opened their hands and looked at what they had gotten. It was revealed that Erica, Kendall and Barney were the unlucky ones.

"That's that. Barney, Erica and Kendall are now on Arkos."

Erica sighed silently as she followed Barney and Kendall over to the Arkos mat.

"Okay. Here are the results of the Tribal Swap. The Arkos Tribe now consists of Barney, Erica, Gary, Kendall, Mel, Molly, Reginald and Sandy." SSBFreak explained. "The new Xon Tribe consists of Chloe, Edwina, Elias, Grace, Inferno, Krash, Renaldo and Tempo. We'll see shortly how these changes affect you and your tribe, because there will be a challenge tomorrow. Veteran or newcomer, you can all head back to camp."

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"Well, this is it. Not much to go with, but it's served its purpose for what we needed it for." Mel said as she introduced the three newcomers to their camp.

"We ended up with a couple of small cliffs that gave us a view of the camp." Barney noted. "Looks like you guys got a river to make up for it."

"_So I was one of the people that got swapped to the other tribe. You know what? I'm actually okay with this. Gives me the chance to join up with Mel again since I know she'd be up for expanding the alliance." Barney noted. "The two of us have been against each other this whole time, so maybe it's high time we started working together again."_

"So how've things been going so far, Mel?" Barney asked as he and Erica conversed with Mel.

"Not bad. I've sorta formed a bit of an alliance with Chloe and Tempo since their current one with Sandy and Krash might have limited days left." Mel said.

"The two of us are with Inferno. We HAD Anita as well, but she got eliminated."

Erica looked pretty excited again, looking at Mel. "This is awesome! I'm amazed we're on the same tribe now!" She said.

Mel chuckled. "Glad you feel that way."

"_It's good to have Barney on my tribe again, and he brought an ally with him, so that makes things even better." Mel noted. "That being said, Erica still confuses me. I mean, APPARENTLY she's a goth, but where is this excited fangirl coming from?"_

Gary came wandering over. "Good to see you again, Erica." He said. "Glad to see that we'll be playing together rather than against each other now."

"Wait. You two know each other?" Barney asked.

"We were aligned back in our season." Gary nodded before turning his attention to Erica. "I also see that Kendall came over with you guys."

Erica's smile vanished as she sighed. "Yeah. We'd really like to try and get rid of him next." She said.

"Fine with me."

"_I'm actually surprised that Kendall's lasted this long. Hey, if we're going to have a better time out here, he needs to go." Gary pointed out. "It's good that the other tribe seems keen on getting rid of him. That'll make the job easier."_

Meanwhile, Reginald sat aside, arms folded and not looking too positive. Sandy saw this and sauntered over.

"So howzit feel, Reggie? Howzit feel to lose all of your allies in one day?" Sandy asked with a smirk.

"You're a fine one to talk." Reginald lifted an eyebrow. "All three of your allies went to the other tribe."

"But look at this; Gary is friends with Erica and Mel is friends with Barney." Sandy wiggled her eyebrows. "Who do YOU think they'd ally with first?"

Reginald sat in silence for a few seconds before lashing his fists towards the sky.

"**POOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIT!"** Reginald roared in rage.

_Sandy sat in front of the camera and smirked. "I TOLD him he'd say it." She said triumphantly._

**(Xon Tribe)**

"_I think it's safe to say that I got screwed over. Barney and Erica were BOTH sent to the other tribe, while the other alliance of Edwina, Grace and Renaldo seems untouched." Inferno folded his arms. "I'm going to need to think fast if I want to survive. I'll need to see if there's anyone here that appears to be on the outs."_

"Oh! Cool! You guys got some cliffs!" Chloe pointed out.

"Yeah. Gives us a good lookout point." Inferno said.

"Too bad there's no water at the base so you can cliff-dive." Chloe lamented. "I miss doing that."

"So how're things going over on this end?" Tempo asked.

"Um…I kinda lost all my allies to the swap." Inferno replied.

"…I see."

"_The thing about Inferno is that I know he's craftier than he appears. Sure, he seems laid back most of the time, but he was one of the biggest players of season three." Tempo explained. "He appears to be in a tight spot now, but I'm wondering if it would be a better idea game-wise to vote him out and get rid of a huge late-game threat."_

"Wait. So there's an alliance of three still around?" Krash asked, a little surprised. "That…That could be a bit of a threat."

"I know. I was hoping they'd get separated by the swap, but that's didn't happen." Inferno said.

Meanwhile, Edwina was talking to Grace, running something by her.

"Since Kendall got swapped, we don't need to worry about an alliance with him anyone." Edwina said. "So…If we're going to get the edge, how about we approach Elias?"

"I'll admit I like him better than Kendall." Grace nodded.

"_So, we were hesitating joining up with Kendall, but since he got swapped, and another apparent outside came in his place, this gives us an opportunity." Grace explained. "Elias may not be the friendliest person around, but I'll say that I'd prefer to align with him now that we've got the choice."_

"I take it Renaldo's bringing him over?" Grace asked.

"Yeah. Here he comes." Edwina nodded as she saw Elias coming over with Renaldo.

"Renaldo tells me that you were interested in an alliance." Elias explained.

"That is if you're up to it." Edwina said.

"It doesn't look like you're friends with the other people you came with." Renaldo piped up.

Elias sighed. "No, you're right. I'm alone at the moment." He said.

"So, at least for now, how about an alliance?" Edwina asked. "If anything, it'll tie up the numbers if Inferno joins the others."

"That's also true."

"_I was a little bugged that I got sent out here alone while my alliance stayed on my old tribe. Now I need to work up from scratch." Elias noted. "That being said, Edwina and the others seemed quick to approach me for a truce, so this may do me good in the long run. At least it'll give me time to plan."_

Night came around for the two tribes. Knowing that there would be a challenge the following day, they went to bed to prepare for it.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 14)**

"_You notice how it's a lot…I don't know…QUIETER around here now? With Chloe and Krash over on the other team, it's keeping Sandy's annoyance levels down because they were always doing stuff with her." Molly said with a smirk before frowning. "That being said, I have a feeling she's going to focus her attention on one of us as soon as she's bored."_

"I'm really freaking BORED!" Sandy yelled from her spot up a tree.

"I don't recall giving you permission to whine!" Reginald called back.

Sandy stuck her tongue out. "Since when do I take orders from you, Reggie?" She asked.

"REGINALD!"

Sitting aside, Molly couldn't help but smirk. "I could watch this all day." She admitted.

"We're going to need to focus our attention elsewhere, Molly." Mel noted. "I already got Barney in on the alliance, so that'll help us later."

"This game's a lot easier this time around." Molly smirked. "Maybe that's because I'm not pulling any punches by hiding my personality."

"I think it's more the fact that we've only been to Tribal Council once since we started." Mel lifted an eyebrow.

"It's a start, at least, and it'll be a free vote for when we get to the merge." Molly nodded.

"Barney's insistent on voting for Kendall, though."

"Fine by me. It keeps attention off of us."

"_Molly thinks that I'd take her over Barney, but she's seriously got it mixed up there. Not that I'd tell her, but I'd take Barney to the end with me over her any day." Mel folded her arms. "That being said, something tells me that she's secretly planning the same thing…"_

"Hey, guys! We've got treemail!" Erica announced as she marched into camp.

"First challenge after the swap, then." Reginald said. "What's it say?"

"Looks like a challenge that involves climbing." Erica noted.

"Perfect. We'll have this one in the bag." Kendall said with a smirk.

"Don't think so highly of your abilities. This is a TEAM challenge." Gary said.

"Whatever."

"_There are many ways a challenge can involve climbing. I'm just trying to think of a way that this show hasn't done yet." Reginald lifted an eyebrow. "Needless to say, I'm wondering where this challenge is going to take us. It could be something that none of us are expecting."_

"_Hmph. Not that it bothers me that the others aren't impressed with my skills. None of them matter in the end." Kendall rolled his eyes._

**(Xon Tribe; Day 14)**

"_Well, there's going to be a challenge today, and I think we're going to need all the luck we can get to recover from the fact that we've sucked for pretty much the whole game up to now." Renaldo rubbed his head. "Maybe the fact that we got some new members could help for all I know."_

"So…Uh…What happened on your season?" Renaldo asked.

Chloe shrugged. "Not really much I can tell you. I was booted before the merge." She replied before pausing. "Say, did you and Edwina hook up yet?"

"You're the second person to ask that! Why is everyone so intent on knowing my private life?!" Renaldo asked.

"Uh…Because it was pretty obvious watching your season that you had a crush on her." Chloe pointed out. "I'm honestly surprised that Edwina hasn't picked up on it yet."

"Oh, crap. I never thought of it that way." Renaldo muttered.

Chloe smirked. "So you DO like her?" She asked.

"Ack! S-Stop doing that!"

"_That guy is so easy to rile up that it almost isn't fun. I think I'm going to enjoy being on his tribe." Chloe laughed. "But seriously, how has Edwina NOT caught on to Renaldo's feelings? He needs to grow a pair and step up before he loses her to some other guy."_

"Hey, guys! Treemail's here!" Krash announced as he made his way into camp.

"Oh! Great! What does it say?" Edwina asked.

Krash froze like a deer in headlights. He glanced down at the treemail in his hands. "…Um…" He said before promptly handing it to the surprised Inferno.

_Krash sat in front of the camera, staring flatly. "…I still haven't learned how to read, okay?" He asked, not sounding amused._

"It's wondering how well we can climb a wall." Inferno read.

"A WALL?" Grace asked, an eyebrow lifted. "Um…In order to be physically able to climb a wall, you'd need to have the agility of something like…"

"…A monkey." Tempo sighed.

Krash blinked a few times. "We're screwed, aren't we?" He asked.

"Yeah…Yeah, we're screwed."

"_Of course we run into a challenge that sounds like it was made for Kendall. Something tells me the production crew is trying to keep him around as long as possible." Tempo said flatly._

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The two tribes emerged from the jungle and walked into a clearing. They made their way over to their tribe mats and stepped on to start the challenge.

"Welcome to your first post-swap Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will be testing your teamwork to see if any of you are able to outwit a stationary object." SSBFreak explained. The players saw that there was a large wall behind the host. "That wall over there is ten feet high. The object is simple; Get everyone on your team over the wall before the other team does the same. Obviously, since we don't expect you to climb over by your own power, you're needed to help each other over the wall, whether it be by boosting them from the ground or lifting them from the top of the wall. The first team to get all eight of their members onto the other side of the wall will win immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

"If you'll all come over to the starting line, we can begin." SSBFreak said.

The sixteen players walked over to a line that had been marked on the ground and stood behind it, ready to run at the wall.

"Okay. For Immunity, survivors ready?..." SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

Everyone instantly ran towards the wall to start the challenge.

"Barney, you and Gary try giving people a boost! You guys are the strongest!" Mel instructed.

"Got it." Barney nodded, but stopped short when he saw Kendall already climbing the wall.

Kendall raced up the wall with lightning speed and reached the top of it in only a few seconds. Kendall went over the wall cleanly and landed on the other side.

"Arkos is already up 1-0."

"Kendall, you should have stayed on the wall to help the rest of us up!" Molly snapped.

"Too late for that now! Looks like you're on your own!" Kendall called back.

Krash picked up Chloe and lifted her up, only to see that her reach was just shy of grabbing the top of the wall. "Aw, c'mon!" He whined.

"Wait! I got an idea!" Inferno said. "Give me a boost, Krash!"

"Huh? But you guys are our strongest players!" Edwina pointed out.

"Trust me!"

Krash shrugged and gave Inferno a boost. The blue-haired man grabbed the top of the wall and easily climbed up.

"Xon ties it up and 1-1."

"Now what?" Renaldo asked.

"Krash, start passing people up to me! I'll pull them up from up here!" Inferno said.

"Oh! Great idea!" Krash said as he picked up Chloe again and held her up to Inferno. The blue-haired man easily grabbed Chloe's hand and pulled her up. Around this time, Gary had gotten Erica onto the wall.

"The score is 2-2."

"The wall is just high enough that it's a struggle reaching it." Barney shook his head as he struggled to get Molly to reach the top of the wall.

"Almost there…Stand on your toes, will you?" Molly directed.

Barney did as he was told and managed to lift Molly up a couple of extra inches. Molly was able to grab the ledge and pull herself up.

"Arkos takes a 3-2 lead."

Krash tried lifting up Edwina and Renaldo at the same time, but was unable to steady himself. Tempo quickly ran to his aid. "Maybe I should help you here." He offered.

"Uh…Thanks."

Tempo lifted Edwina up, struggling a bit to hold her up high enough. Inferno nevertheless grabbed Edwina's hand and helped her up. Krash took this as his cue and lifted up Renaldo.

At the same time, Gary was giving Reginald a boost to get him onto the wall. The lanky rabbit easily grabbed the wall due to his height and pulled himself up. "Okay. Start passing people up to me and I'll see if I can pull them up." Reginald said.

At this point, Krash had just handed Renaldo up to Inferno. Tempo looked around and saw there wasn't anyone else on their tribe he could lift except Grace. "Um…Is it okay if I try lifting you?" He asked awkwardly.

Grace paused. "No offence, but you look like the kind of guy that would enjoy giving a woman like me a feel." She said. "I'll stick with Krash, thanks."

Tempo coughed.

"The score is tied 4-4."

Barney lifted Mel as Gary lifted Sandy. The two looked like they were struggling to get the two up onto the wall, but Barney managed to pass Mel to Reginald, who started helping her up. Barney helped push Mel up onto the wall as Reginald pulled, then rushed over to help Gary push Sandy up onto the wall.

"Arkos scores two points to make it 6-4."

"We're falling behind, guys! Step on it!" Inferno said as Krash passed Grace to him.

"Hey, I'm the only one down here doing any work!" Krash insisted.

"You seriously expect me to get Elias up there by myself?" Tempo asked, an eyebrow lifted.

"Was that a shot?" Elias asked.

Krash grabbed Tempo and gave him a boost up to where Inferno grabbed his hand and helped him up. Tempo jumped over the wall and landed on the ground next to everyone else.

"Xon ties up the game at 6."

"How are we going to do this?" Gary asked.

"I'll boost you up first. You can help Reginald pull me up from there." Barney replied.

"That's fine with me." Gary shrugged.

In the meantime, Krash had just managed to give Elias a boost up to Inferno. The blue-haired man helped Elias over the wall.

"Xon takes the lead at 7-6."

This left Krash alone, who folded his arms. "Now what?" He asked.

"You're going to have to try jumping, man." Inferno explained. "I'm going to have to try my hardest not to get pulled off the wall when I grab you."

Krash shrugged and tried jumping, just missing Inferno's hand.

"Come on, you two! We don't have all day!" Kendall called out to Barney and Gary.

"Oh, yeah. Because you TOTALLY helped out." Mel rolled her eyes.

Barney looked like he was struggling, but he managed to get Gary up onto the side of the wall. Gary managed to pull himself up and climbed up with little effort.

"The score is tied at 7. It's anyone's game."

"Start climbing, Barney. You're going to need to try and reach our hands so we can pull you up." Reginald instructed.

"I'll try." Barney said as he tried jumping up to grab hold of the hands waiting for him. He didn't even get close.

Krash was having similar bad luck, as Inferno hadn't managed to grab hold of his arms yet. "This isn't working! I can't jump high enough!" He explained.

Inferno paused. "Wait. Krash, back up for a bit and then run at the wall." He explained. "Try running up it and grabbing my hand that way."

Krash nodded and started walking backwards. "Let's try it." He said.

Once Krash had backed up about ten feet, he ran headfirst at the wall. Krash reached the wall and leapt at it, running up it for a few steps before throwing his hand at Inferno, who managed to catch it this time.

"Gotcha!" Inferno cheered as he pulled Krash up onto the wall. Once Krash was up, all the two needed to do was leap off and join the others on the ground.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Xon wins Immunity!"

"Woohoo! That rocked!" Krash cheered.

Still trying to climb the wall, Barney groaned. "How could it have been that close?"

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity and breaking your losing streak, Xon Tribe. You're all safe for at least another couple of days out here." SSBFreak explained before turning to the losing tribe. "Arkos, I'll be seeing you all tonight at Tribal Council where you will vote someone off your tribe. This will be familiar territory for some, but not for others. You can all head back to camp."

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"Well, that didn't go as well as I thought it would." Barney sighed. "I was thinking we would have won that one."

"You and Gary tried your best." Mel replied. "So now what?"

"We need to vote out Kendall. He's holding us all back and we'll probably do better without him anyway." Erica replied.

"_We lost the challenge, but it looks to me that it's obvious who's getting the votes tonight. Kendall doesn't do much besides annoy us to no end and the other season five players don't like him in the slightest." Mel noted. "Getting rid of him would probably be the best for the tribe."_

"So, what? Is it going to be unanimous?" Reginald asked.

"Sounds like it." Gary shrugged. "I'm fine with getting rid of him. He lasted far too long back in season five anyway."

"And how long was that?" Reginald asked.

"Around fifth."

"_Normally, I'm an easygoing guy that tends to let things happen. Well, after spending most of last season with Kendall on my tribe, I think it's safe to say that everyone's had enough of him." Gary pointed out._

"Just remember to vote for Kendall. We need to take him out before we lose our chance." Erica said.

"I still say you guys are blowing this out of proportion." Reginald rolled his eyes.

"You obviously don't know him like they do, Reggie." Sandy smirked.

"Reginald." Reginald said flatly.

Meanwhile, Kendall was walking through camp alone, pondering his next move.

"So who should I use it on?" Kendall asked himself. "So many interesting choices…"

"_There's no question about it: I'm using my idol tonight because it looks like everyone else is voting for me." Kendall said with a smirk. "But now I'm wondering who I can get rid of with it just so I can stick it to the others even more. This is going to be fun…"_

"I'm sick of Barney and the others rely on him…Reginald's a big mental threat…" Kendall said. "…Gary's too nice…Erica hates me…This could be a tough decision…"

As Kendall walked along, he passed by a large rock; One that a familiar pink Minjo was standing behind and listening in. She lifted an eyebrow and flashed a dark smirk.

"So that furry rodent found the idol, did he?" She asked.

"_Kendall has apparently found an idol and intends to use it. Now, I could tell the others about this, but what kind of villain would I be then?" Molly asked. "No, I think I'll let Kendall play that thing of his and see what happens since I know for a fact he isn't going to target me with it. This could be a very interesting Tribal Council."_

"Ready to go?" Mel asked Molly as she came over.

"Yeah. Let's get this over with." Molly said.

"This is going to be an interesting council." Mel noted.

"You can say that again." Molly smirked.

**(Tribal Council)**

The eight members of Arkos, old and new, entered Tribal Council with lit torches. They all found a spot and sat down to await the council to commence.

"Welcome to your first post-swap Tribal Council, Arkos Tribe. In a moment, one of you will be voted out off the tribe and out of the game, much like the people before you." SSBFreak explained as he started to ask questions. "Molly, this is your first time here since day three, and back then, you voted out Yori." He noted. "Care to explain why?"

"Oh, it's been so long. Let me think." Molly said with a smirk.

"Way to sugarcoat it." Barney rolled his eyes.

"Well, we considered Yori a threat because she was the only season three representative on our tribe, which meant that none of us knew how she played." Molly answered the question. "Since we figured that made her a big threat, we voted her off before she could try anything."

"Barney, for you Xon players, this is your fourth time here in a row. How does that feel?" SSBFreak asked.

"Not good, especially since I'm not used to having a losing streak like this." Barney sighed. "My tribe was the domineering one back in season one, so losing four straight Immunities kinda hits me harder than most."

"Gary, how's tribe life been after the swap?"

"I certainly can't complain. For the most part, it's fine. I'm glad that Erica was swapped to my tribe, though. Can't say the same for Kendall, though." Gary noted.

"I thought you liked EVERYTHING." Kendall lifted an eyebrow.

"I'm laid-back; Not all-loving. There's a big difference." Gary reminded.

"Your personality says otherwise."

"Reginald, how are the tribe dynamics at the moment?" The host asked.

"Not as bad as I initially thought, I'll admit. At the moment, Kendall seems to be the only real outsider. Barney and Erica even seem intent on voting him out." Reginald explained.

"Most of us did, for that matter." Gary added.

"Is that true, Erica?"

"Uh…Yeah? I mean, you should know how insufferable he is since you were there last season as well." Erica pointed out.

"You should also know that he can't be biased towards someone." Kendall gave a smirk.

"Biased or not, he knows I'm right."

"Kendall, there appears to be some animosity towards you here." SSBFreak explained. "Care to give an explanation why?"

Kendall paused, then shrugged. "Not really. I mean, I don't like anyone here, so why would I care what they thought of me?" He asked. "Not that it'll help them any. They won't vote me out."

"Care to explain why you think that is?"

"Because I'm sure it's easy to tell that whoever I go to the end with will win. I'm the goat here." Kendall smirked. "And they know it."

"Well, I think that's enough questions. It's time to vote." SSBFreak explained. "Reginald, you're up."

Reginald stood up and walked out of the hut to go vote. He approached the table and wrote a name down before walking back to the hut.

Molly appeared to be smirking as she wrote a name down. "Let's just go with the flow for now." She explained as she voted and walked off.

Barney wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "You've overstayed your welcome." He said, having voted for Kendall.

Kendall was smirking as he wrote a name down. "I think I know what to do. This'll get interesting." He said as he voted and walked away.

Sandy hummed a tune as she wrote a name down. "I sure hope the host didn't ask me any questions. I was too busy playing the theme song from Bonanza in my head to notice what was going on." She said.

Erica wrote a name down quickly. "This should end it once and for all." She said as she put her ballot into the urn and walked off.

Gary casually wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "Normally, I'd say it's been a pleasure. This time, I'll make an exception." He said, having voted for Kendall.

Mel, the last to vote, approached the table and wrote a name down. Satisfied with the vote, Mel shoved the ballot into the urn and walked back to the hut.

Once all eight players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained.

"Hold up, there."

Everyone turned to Kendall as he stood up and shocked everyone by pulling an Immunity Idol from within his shirt. "I brought this with me from Xon and I want to play it here." He explained.

"No way!" Erica cried.

SSBFreak took the idol and inspected it. "This is indeed the Xon Immunity Idol." He explained. "All votes cast against Kendall are now void."

Kendall triumphantly returned to his seat as the majority of the tribe looked stunned at what had just happened. "Looks like I win again, Erica." He explained.

"If no one wants to play the Arkos Immunity Idol, it's time to read the votes…" SSBFreak said.

"…First vote; Kendall. Doesn't count." Kendall sat back.

"Kendall. Void." Erica looked down.

"Kendall. Not counted." Kendall folded his arms and smirked.

"Kendall. Void." "You won't be getting rid of me THAT easily." Kendall said.

"Kendall. Doesn't count." The council was silent.

"Kendall. Not counted." Kendall couldn't help but be amused at how well this had gone.

"Kendall. Void." SSBFreak said. "That's seven votes for Kendall, none of which count. The last vote is Kendall's and will determine who is eliminated. Last vote and fifth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

The council was waiting in anticipation, wondering who Kendall had voted for.

SSBFreak pulled out the ballot.

Kendall smirked.

"…Gary. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak explained.

Gary seemed surprised at the revelation, as was the devastated-looking Erica. Gary sighed and grabbed his torch. "I guess it wasn't meant to be." He said as he walked up to the host.

"Gary, in this case, Kendall has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Gary's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"I had a good time." Gary nodded as he walked out of the hut and vanished from sight.

"Once Gary was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "The first idol usage of the season has been done and Gary has taken the fall. It's clear that most of you didn't even see that one coming, but I'm sure this will remind you all to stay on your toes. You never know when someone's going to pull an immunity idol out and throw the entire council on its end. You can all head back to camp."

The seven remaining Arkos members stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Bringing up the rear was Erica, who was looking sad and frustrated. She had told her teammates that Kendall needed to be taken care of quickly. Now that he had made his move and taken Gary out with it, Erica wasn't sure if they still had time to act…

"_The first time I've ever been eliminated…Feels a little strange. That being said, I managed to play this game twice and last a combined total of fifty-three days. That's pretty good for someone my age." Gary shrugged. "I'm glad I had the experience, but I guess you can't win them all."_

**Voting History:**

**Gary – Kendall**

**Kendall – Barney, Erica, Gary, Mel, Molly, Reginald and Sandy (VOID)**

Author's Notes: And Gary falls as the first victim post-swap. Like last season, I enjoyed writing for Gary's laid-back character, but unfortunately I knew that he wasn't in for the long haul again. Since there wasn't really a logical way to eliminate him normally, I figured that an idol usage would be the best way to send Gary on his way. This is one of those times where I wish I could have made a character last longer, but for story-related purposes he had to go here.


	7. Days 15 to 16

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"What the heck just HAPPENED back there?" Mel asked.

"We got blindsided." Barney muttered. "Looks like Kendall found the Xon idol before the swap."

"How?! We looked for that stupid thing for what felt like forever!" Erica insisted.

"_This sucks big time. Not only did it turn out that Kendall found the idol that everyone on my tribe's been looking for, but he used it to eliminate Gary, a good friend of mine." Erica sighed. "I was really thinking I'd enjoy myself out here, but the fact that Kendall's been taunting us is really making it hard to enjoy the experience."_

"So what now? We just stick together and vote him out unanimously?" Barney asked. "I mean, the idol only saves him once."

"The host didn't say anything about the idol getting re-hid, did he?" Mel asked.

"Not that I know of."

"Then we can assume that he's a sitting duck."

"But then he'll just find a way to weasel his way through another vote." Erica rolled her eyes.

"_I honestly think Erica's giving Kendall too much credit in this case. If the idol isn't hidden again, then Kendall doesn't really have much of a chance unless he finds the Arkos one as well." Mel explained. "I mean, if we all join up again and vote for him, he doesn't have the fallback this time."_

Meanwhile, Kendall was walking through the camp, looking surprisingly content.

"That went well. Good for a start, at least. Now what do I do, though?" Kendall mused.

"_I used the idol and managed to get rid of our strongest player with it, which is a good start for tormenting these idiots. However, I need to focus on what to do now." Kendall pointed out. "I'll need to hope that someone hasn't found the Arkos idol yet, but looking at the low intelligence of these people, I wouldn't be surprised if it's still in play."_

"I suppose I could start searching for it…But I've got a bit of time to have some fun." Kendall smirked. "It's not like any of these idiots are capable of finding it."

With that, Kendall walked into the shelter and laid down. Reginald watched him from afar, drew his fake idol into view and examined it.

"Now what do I do with this? It's completely useless…" Reginald muttered.

"_I'm faced with a double-conundrum. Kendall used the idol to vote out an ally of mine, and in doing so revealed to the others what the idol looked like." Reginald said. "Now Sandy will know for a fact that the one she has is real and I'm stuck with a fake idol I can't use on her…I may have to wait for the next challenge, pass it to Elias and see if he can use it on the other tribe."_

"If Kendall used the Xon idol, that means the others over there may still be looking for it." Reginald mused. "Maybe my best bet would be to give this to Elias…"

Sandy slinked up beside Reginald and sat down on the log with him. "Yeah, but then again, he IS pretty inept as a villain." She said.

"Maybe back then, but five years is a long time to…" Reginald trailed off before turning to glare at Sandy. "Weren't you told that it's rude to butt in when people are talking?" He asked.

"Sure, because talking to yourself about giving a fake idol to an ally is a great way to make yourself look smart." Sandy said with a smirk. "Thanks for confirming that my idol was real though, Reggie. I appreciate it."

With that, Sandy wandered off, leaving Reginald sitting there, eye twitching.

"**DAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"**

"_I like him." Sandy laughed._

Everyone soon decided to go to bed. They knew that they'd need the rest to get answers the following morning.

**(Xon Tribe; Day 15)**

"Well…This sure feels weird." Renaldo scratched his head.

"What?" Grace asked.

"Us not losing a challenge." Renaldo replied. "We've gotten so used to losing that I almost forgot what it felt like to wonder who got eliminated."

Grace stared flatly. "How the heck did you get to be such a pessimist, anyway?" She asked.

Renaldo stared back. "Would you like the reasons chronologically or alphabetically?" He asked.

"Uh…Forget it."

"Good, because I was afraid I'd actually have to tell you." Renaldo shrugged. "Not only would we be here all day, but I'd probably accidentally say something that'd make me have to kill you."

Grace blinked and stared at Renaldo.

"_There are days Renaldo is a great ally, and others where he creeps me out with his stories and his way of talking." Grace noted. "I mean, ignoring the fact that most of his stories involve resurrection or some psychotic clown zombie armed with a stop sign, it's hard picturing Renaldo in any sort of situation like that…"_

"_She should be thankful that I only limit my stories to the ones ABOUT the psychotic clown zombie. There's no way she'd believe the stories about the Auditor." Renaldo folded his arms._

Meanwhile, Chloe was standing in the water, trying to catch a fish the way Sandy had taught her. So far, she wasn't having much luck.

"Why is this taking so long?" Chloe asked. "It didn't take so long when Sandy was here with me."

"Maybe the fish are more-sparse on this side of the island." Tempo shrugged.

"But I haven't seen ANY fish swim around me since I started!" Chloe insisted.

"Remember what Sandy taught you, Chloe. Stay calm and be patient." Tempo said.

"What's going on?" Inferno asked as he came over. "Why is Chloe trying to fish like that?"

"Sandy effectively taught her. You should have seen the fish Chloe caught on her first try."

"_Catching fish with your hands is hard, but it's SO worth it when you manage to catch one. I just wish my arms and legs didn't get so sore waiting for something to show up." Chloe said, rubbing an arm. "I guess that's the price you have to be for being an angler…Or something like that."_

"Exactly how long has she been out there, though?" Inferno asked.

"About ten minutes." Tempo shrugged.

"My arms are falling asleep!" Chloe called out.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 15)**

"Wait. You KNEW Kendall had the idol?!" Mel asked.

"I saw him talking to himself just before council." Molly replied. "I didn't say anything because I knew he wouldn't target us. Instead, he did the dirty work for us and got one of the opposition out."

"He could have targeted Barney, though!"

"_Molly tells me that she knew Kendall had the idol and was going to play it, but decided not to say anything. Then again, I guess that's how she plays." Mel sighed. "Still, that move could have gotten ANY of us voted out!"_

"_I didn't say anything because I'm not stupid. Who's the next logical choice for a target after Kendall? That'd be me. If everyone knew Kendall had the idol, who'd they pile their votes onto? Again, me." Molly reminded. "So…Why WOULD I tell everyone that Kendall had an idol if I was one of the people he would never have used it on?"_

Mel sighed. "Okay, I get your strategy, but you could have at LEAST told me about it. I thought we were aligned." She said.

"We are. Like I said, I found out about it literally before council." Molly said. "Telling you during council would have looked suspicious."

"I still think you're hiding something…"

"It's me. There's ALWAYS something, isn't there?" Molly smirked.

"Yeah. I suppose so."

Meanwhile, Erica was over by the fire pit, prodding it with a stick to rotate the firewood around. Kendall approached from the side and Erica saw him coming.

"What do you want this time, Kendall?" Erica asked.

"How'd that blindside taste, Erica? I suggest you get used to it." Kendall said. "Blindsiding that oversized oaf of a friend of yours was extremely-satisfying and I look forward to doing it again."

"Tough talk considering you're a dead man walking since you used the idol and are now vulnerable for sure." Erica reminded.

"Then I'll just find the Arkos one since I'm positive it hasn't been found yet."

"_I enjoy rubbing a victory into the face of whoever I best. It's good practice for when I make the attempt to overthrow King Louie, after all." Kendall shrugged. "It's not like any of these people mean anything to me, either. I mean, I'm not going to see any of them after this, so why bother to sugarcoat stuff?"_

Kendall suddenly became aware of someone standing behind him and turned around, seeing Barney standing over him and not looking pleased.

"Keep talking, Kendall. You're just going to dig yourself even deeper." Barney narrowed his eyes.

"That's what you think. You wouldn't know a good goat if you saw one, anyway."

"Is that what you're trying?" Erica asked, an eyebrow lifted.

"There's a big difference between being a goat and being insufferable." Barney said sharply. "You're long past simply being a goat."

"I guess we'll just see about that when the others decide to vote you out over me." Kendall said as he walked off.

"_I'm about at my limit here. There's only so much of this I can take and I really think we should just get rid of Kendall before it's too late." Barney said, rolling his eyes. "The only problem is that it'll be tough getting everyone to vote against him again."_

**(Xon Tribe)**

"So…Why are we doing this again?" Krash asked as Tempo led him over to where Inferno was relaxing.

"We're going to try to strike up a conversation with Inferno." Tempo said.

"Why do you need ME for?"

"Because you're better with people than I am."

"_I want to try and get a better reading on Inferno, but he's not going to open up to me about anything. Since Krash has a way with words and doesn't seem to realize it, that makes him a better choice to talk to him." Tempo explained. "If anything, it's a good way to pass the time."_

"Uh…What's up, guys?" Inferno asked.

"Just wanting to talk since we're going to align." Tempo shrugged as he and Krash sat down.

"Um…So, what did you think about your friends before the swap?" Krash asked.

"Oh, my alliance? They're a good bunch of people." Inferno shrugged. "Too bad that the others voted out Anita, though. She could have increased our numbers and would have given us a bigger advantage."

"Oh, Anita? I remember her from my season." Krash said. "Did you like her?"

Inferno froze. So did Tempo. "WHAT." They both asked.

Krash looked at the two and shrugged. "I just think the two of you would make a cute couple is all." He replied.

"Um…I'm like…Seven years older than her." Inferno said, a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, is there a problem with that?...Oh! I get it! You've probably got a family member that'd look down on a relationship like that, don't you?" Krash laughed. "Ah, I'm sure they'd get over it."

_Inferno sat in front of the camera in stunned silence. "…How the heck did he know that?" He asked._

"_I tend to say what's on my mind, and what's on my mind can sometimes be a little personal." Krash admitted, nervously tapping his fingers together. "I hope I didn't offended Inferno back there and say something I'd regret."_

Meanwhile, Elias and Edwina were watching the three from afar. The former looked a little unnerved.

"This isn't good. They're probably strengthening their alliance." Elias mused. "It'd be hard to get them to split the votes, now."

"But it's still a 4-4, though." Edwina shrugged. "You're not comfortable with one of us duking it out with one of them in a tiebreaker?"

"No. I'm not comfortable with the possibility of us LOSING."

"_I'm not letting myself get played for the fool this time. Last time, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings and paid for it with my actions." Elias said. "If I see a potential threat, I know that I need to act."_

"I dunno. For all we know, they could be having a normal talk." Edwina reminded. "I mean, even though they're aligned, they still don't know much about each other, right?"

"I suppose that's a possibility…" Elias mused.

A few awkward seconds passed.

"By the way, has anyone ever told you that you look a bit like Walt Disney with that mustache?"

"YES."

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"We need to take out Kendall for sure this time." Barney told Sandy. "He's said that he's going to try and find the idol around here. Think you can hinder his progress or something?"

"Sure thing. That guy gives me a bad vibe…Like a two-month-old-head-of-cabbage kind of vibe." Sandy nodded.

"Good to hear. Go nuts."

"No problem!" Sandy said as she turned and scampered off.

"_Technically, I don't need to do anything since I've already got the idol, but hindering the monkey's progress is too much fun for me not to do it." Sandy noted, spinning her idol on her finger like a basketball. "I'll need to get creative with my methods though, since I don't have access to a tar cannon or a rubber band out here."_

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Erica asked as she watched Sandy frolic over to where Kendall was searching.

"Gives us more time to find the idol, as far as I'm concerned." Barney shrugged.

"_I guess with Sandy distracting Kendall it's less time he's using to find the idol." Erica shrugged. "Barney's okay with it, and I suppose I should probably be okay with it as well."_

Reginald watched as Sandy followed Kendall closely, rambling on about the frustrations of losing a sock in the dryer, and seemed confused. "What is she doing now?" He asked.

"Trying to keep Kendall from finding the idol, from the looks of it." Mel noted as she came over.

"But…Sandy's already GOT the idol!"

"_I'm running with the assumption that Sandy's annoying Kendall simply because she's bored, because seriously, she could just sit back and do nothing while Kendall wastes his time trying to find an idol that's already been found." Reginald noted. "Then I remember that this is Sandy I'm talking about and dismiss the reasoning."_

"When do you think he'll catch on?" Mel asked.

"Hopefully never." Reginald replied. "Frankly, if he's looking for the idol, then the others may think it's still in play."

"And then what? You're not thinking things through."

"Believe me, I've given this thought." Reginald smirked.

"_It's times like this that makes me glad I'm not REALLY aligned with him." Mel said flatly._

Night eventually rolled in. The two tribes decided to go to bed, as they were anticipating a challenge the following day.

**(Xon Tribe; Day 16)**

"_We know there's going to be a challenge today, and if we're going to avoid losing again, we're going to need to be ready for anything." Grace folded her arms. "Just in case it's an Immunity challenge, I want to make sure that the other alliance isn't targeting me, because I really don't know how I'd fare in a tiebreaker against them. Time to do some prodding…"_

"Inferno, can we talk for a bit?" Grace asked as she wandered over to the beach, where Inferno was watching Chloe trying to fish bare-handed again.

"Uh…Sure. Why not?" Inferno shrugged.

"Inferno, we're looking at a 4-4 split for votes no matter what happens, right?" Grace asked. "I'd like to know who you guys are targeting."

"Wait. Why would I tell you?"

"More to give me a peace of mind because I know it's going to be bugging me for a while."

"…Okay. At the moment, it's Elias since the others seem to be on opposite alliances from Arkos." Inferno said. "I think they want to get rid of some of Arkos' power alliance for the merge."

"Makes sense. Thanks for being honest."

_Inferno sat in front of the camera and sighed. "If it was ANYONE else, I probably would have made up a story to throw them off. Grace trusts me since we spent so much time aligned back in season three, and I'd feel like a heel if I betrayed that trust." He explained. "We may be on different alliances, but I just don't know…"_

"Hey, guys! We've got treemail!" Krash announced as he walked into camp with a letter. As soon as everyone gathered around, Krash passed the treemail to Elias.

"Why the heck do you keep getting treemail if you can't read it, anyway?" Edwina asked.

Krash shrugged. "Gives me something to do."

"It's wondering how well we know the people on the other team." Elias read. "Hmm…Some sort of trivia challenge?"

"So long as it doesn't reveal any secrets of ours, then I'm fine." Chloe folded her arms.

"_Seriously, if I wanted my deep, dark secrets revealed, I wouldn't keep them written down in my diary that I keep in my dresser at all times." Chloe said before her eyes widened. "…Crap. You're gonna edit that out, right?"_

"_For the most part, we should be good. The only question marks for most of us are the people from season four." Elias explained. "I guess we should be thankful that we've got Tempo and Chloe on our tribe, or else we'd be completely in the dark about most things about them."_

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 16)**

"Prawn xylophooooone! Shrimp glockenspieeeeel! Prawn xylophone; Shrimp glockenspiel!" Sandy sang as she followed an annoyed Kendall, who was still trying to block everything out.

"This is going better than I thought it would." Barney lifted an eyebrow.

"Well, it's not getting us any closer to finding the idol." Erica sighed. "I'm starting to think that it's already been found."

"_Sandy's doing a good job at distracting Kendall, but Barney and I have been looking for the idol for a while now and haven't found it." Erica noted. "Well…That tells me that it could have already been found, but who could have it? Kendall certainly wouldn't be looking for it if he already found it."_

"You know what? So long as Kendall doesn't have it, I'm fine with it." Barney folded his arms.

"Me too, but it'd be nice to know who found it." Erica said.

"Losteeeer….Timpani!" Sandy sang out. "Crab bongos! Crabby crab bongos!"

"Will you shut up?!" Kendall snapped.

"Only if you say please!"

"I'm above begging."

Molly tried to block the voices out as she continued to search for the idol. "Hmm…No luck. I wonder where it is…" She mused.

"_I've been trying to find the idol since the game started. I honestly have no idea how Kendall was able to find his tribe's idol so quickly." Molly folded her arms. "Frankly, I need the idol more than anyone since I know I'm the next target after Kendall."_

"No luck yet?" Mel asked as she came over.

"No. How about you?"

"Nothing yet."

"_I don't want to tell Molly that Sandy found the idol since it would just make her even madder and I feel I'd pay for it if that happened." Mel folded her arms. "Hey, if Molly can keep it a secret that Kendall found his idol, I can keep it a secret that Sandy found hers."_

"We've got treemail." Reginald said as he walked into camp. Everyone went over to him as he read. "A trivia challenge about the other team, it looks like."

"Shouldn't be too hard." Barney shrugged. "We know a bit about everyone over there."

"That may be so, but knowing challenges like this, it can't be that easy." Reginald lifted an eyebrow.

"_These types of challenges don't focus on obvious facts. They focus on minor details that make it hard to figure out who they belong to." Reginald pointed out. "We're going to need to hope that we can get lucky…"_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The Xon Tribe stood on their mat in a clearing, waiting for the challenge to begin. The losing tribe's mat, in this case Arkos', was once again empty.

"Before we start, let's bring out the Arkos Tribe." SSBFreak said as the losing tribe emerged from the jungle and walked over. The Xon Tribe was shocked to see who had been eliminated. "Gary was eliminated at Tribal Council."

"No way!" Tempo said. "How the heck did that even happen?!"

Tempo didn't get an answer as the Xon Tribe stepped onto their mat so the challenge could start.

"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, everyone. Here, we will see how much you know about your opponents." SSBFreak explained. "I will ask alternating questions about the other team, and you have to say the name of the person you think the answer is. If you're right, you get to remove a member from your opponents' team, but if you're wrong, you'll be forced to remove a member of your own team. The team to eliminate all of the opposing team first will win Reward, which is enough blankets for everyone currently on your tribe."

"Xon, you have one extra player. Who is sitting out?" SSBFreak continued.

"Me in a trivia challenge? I don't think so." Krash shook his head.

"Okay. If everyone else will come over here, we can begin."

The fourteen other players walked over to the host and stood on either side of him.

"Okay. For Reward, here's Arkos' first question." SSBFreak explained. "Who on Xon has a girlfriend, yet likes to flirt with others?"

"That's dead easy." Erica said. "It's Tempo."

"You sure?" Barney asked.

"Believe me, I know him."

Barney shrugged. "We'll say Tempo." He said.

"That is correct." SSBFreak explained. "You can now eliminate one of the Xon players."

"We'll take out Tempo now." Erica said.

Tempo sighed. "So much for me using my knowledge…" He muttered as he walked off.

"Okay. Here's Xon's first question." SSBFreak said. "Who on Arkos lives in a pink house?"

"A pink house? Seriously?" Elias asked, slightly surprised.

"You think it could be Sandy?" Edwina asked.

"Wait. I think it may be Molly." Grace said. "Jinjos live in houses their colour, so maybe Minjos do as well."

"Makes sense." Edwina nodded. "We'll say Molly."

"You're correct." SSBFreak nodded.

"Not like I have much of a choice." Molly rolled her eyes.

"You can eliminate someone from Arkos."

"Reginald." Grace said.

Reginald sighed. "That went well…" He muttered as he walked off.

"Here's Arkos' next question. Who on Xon is the only one to have piloted an airplane?"

"Pilot an airplane? Has ANYONE ever done that?" Mel asked.

"Elias is an actor. Maybe he's flown one for his movies." Molly suggested.

"Probable enough to work." Erica said. "We'll say Elias."

"Incorrect. That was Edwina." The host replied.

"Seriously?" Renaldo asked Edwina.

"You'd be surprised at what I can summon with my notebook." Edwina said.

"Arkos, you must eliminate one of your own."

"I'll go. I doubt I'd be good at this challenge anyway." Molly said as she walked off.

"Here's Xon's next question. Who on Arkos has a master's degree in economics?"

"Wow. That's an impressive accomplishment…" Inferno noted.

Elias stared flatly. "Sandy." He said.

"Correct."

"You're an accountant AND you have a master's in economics?" Barney asked.

"You'd be surprised how often I use it." Sandy said cheerfully.

"Xon, you can eliminate someone else from Arkos."

"We'll remove Erica." Grace replied as Erica left the field.

"Here's Arkos' next question. Who on Xon is exceptionally skilled with explosives?"

Mel appeared to be in thought. "Does it have to be someone still in the game?" She asked her tribe.

"I don't think so. They included everyone the last time they did this challenge." Barney said. "Why? I'm thinking it's Renaldo."

"I'm thinking it's Charlotte." Mel said. "Remember that she's military-trained, right?"

"Hmm…You could be right." Barney noted.

"We're gonna go with Charlotte!" Sandy said.

"You're correct. You can eliminate someone from Xon."

"We'll get rid of Edwina." Mel said as Edwina walked off.

"Okay. Here's Xon's next question." SSBFreak said. "Who on Arkos lives in a house decorated with things like apples and oranges?"

Elias blinked. "What?" He asked. "That doesn't even make any sense."

"It sounds neat, though." Chloe smiled.

"But seriously, who can you even picture living in a house like that?" Elias asked.

"Mel." Inferno said.

"You're correct. You can eliminate another Arkos player."

"We'll get rid of Barney."

As Barney walked off the field, Sandy glanced at Mel. "Apples and oranges?" She asked, a little surprised for once.

"Long story." Mel sighed.

This left Kendall, Mel and Sandy for Arkos against Chloe, Elias, Grace, Inferno and Renaldo for Xon. "Here's Arkos' next question." SSBFreak said. "Who has tried, and failed, to take over a kingdom over twelve times?"

"You think it could be Krash?" Mel asked.

"My BFF is too nice to take over a kingdom!" Sandy insisted.

"But the Kremlings have tried to take over Kong Island for…I don't know how long."

"Good enough for me." Kendall shrugged. "Krash."

"Nope. That was Jack." SSBFreak explained. "You must eliminate another of your own, Arkos."

"Mel." Kendall said. Mel sighed and walked away.

"Here's Xon's next question. Who on Arkos is the owner of no less than five kittens?"

"You guys think it could be Mel again?" Renaldo asked.

"I think she seems like the most-likely candidate." Elias shrugged. "I can't really picture any of them as cat lovers."

"We'll say Mel again."

"That's incorrect. It was Yori." SSBFreak said. "You must now eliminate one of your own."

"I'm out." Renaldo said as he walked off.

"Here's Arkos' next question." SSBFreak said. "Who on Xon has broken more bones than anyone else here?"

"Does that mean their own or other people's?" Kendall asked.

"Probably the former, although the latter would be interesting." Sandy shrugged. "So…The only logical guess is Inferno."

"Why?"

"He's a snowboarder. He's bound to have had tons of accidents." Sandy reasoned. "Inferno?"

"That's correct. You can eliminate someone from Xon."

"Walt Disney!" Sandy said.

"What?" SSBFreak asked, only to see Elias walk off in a huff. "…Oh."

"Haha! You actually responded to it!" Sandy laughed at Elias.

"Anyway, here's Xon's next question. Who on Arkos has an IQ of over 250?"

"Who do you guys think it'd be?" Grace asked. "250 is pretty smart."

"Erica's a super genius." Chloe pointed out.

"Is she?"

"She's from Jimmy Neutron, remember?"

"Good point." Grace shrugged. "Erica."

"Correct. You can eliminate another member of Arkos."

"Kendall, just to say that we did." Chloe said with a smirk.

Kendall muttered something under his breath as he walked off.

"Here's where we stand. Sandy is the only one left standing for Arkos while Xon still has Grace, Inferno and Chloe." SSBFreak explained. "Sandy needs to get this question right in order to stay in the game, otherwise Xon will win the challenge. So here's the next question. Who on Xon is a closet country music fan?"

Sandy appeared to be in deep thought as she scanned the opposing tribe. "Hmm…Country music…Country music…" She mused. "Just because it sounds like something he'd be, I'll say Renaldo."

"That is…Incorrect. It was Grace." SSBFreak explained. "And with that, the challenge is over! Xon wins Reward!"

Inferno cheered. "Awesome! Two challenges in a row!" He said.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Xon Tribe. Here are eight blankets for you to use at your shelter." SSBFreak said as he handed Grace a stack of blankets before turning to the Arkos Tribe. "Arkos, I have nothing for you today except to tell you that you'll need to do better in the challenge tomorrow if you want to avoid voting off someone else. You can all head back to camp."

**(Xon Tribe)**

"_We got real lucky and won some blankets, which is great because nights can get to be pretty cold out here." Chloe said. "Even for someone covered in fur like me, it can get cold. I can only imagine how the others feel. Krash doesn't seem too affected by it, but he IS a reptile…"_

"These things are so soft and cuddly!" Chloe cooed as she hugged one of the blankets. "Oh, we're going to sleep so much better now!"

"I was afraid Sandy would start answering all her questions correctly when it came down to just her." Tempo sighed in relief.

"It's SANDY." Elias said.

"She's a freaking ACCOUNTANT. I know when a person is smart."

"_Seriously, if you look past her insane antics and obsession with those sand weavals, Sandy's probably one of the smartest people here." Tempo folded his arms. "I mean, think about it. She's found an idol, hid it in plain view from a person, is able to answer numerical problems instantly and seems to know things that none of us can. I was honestly afraid we would lose when it came down to just Sandy."_

"_Sandy can't be THAT smart or else the whole sand weavals phases wouldn't happen in the first place…" Elias said before trailing off. "…Unless…She WANTS us to think she's hopelessly insane and is really planning to backstab us and loot our corpses…Boy, all of a sudden, I'm inspired to start writing a screenplay…"_

"Well, the main thing is that we won the challenge, and we've got a bit of a morale boost for tomorrow." Grace nodded.

"There's just one thing that puzzles me, Grace." Inferno said.

"What's that?"

"…Country music? Seriously?"

"Oh, yeah. Like YOU'RE a fine one to talk about tastes in music, Mr. Stuck-In-The-Seventies." Grace rolled her eyes.

Krash laughed. "You got pwen'd, man!" He asked.

Tempo blinked. "Uh…It's pronounced 'pwned', Krash…" He pointed out.

"…Well, how was I supposed to know that?"

"_Seriously, it's not even a real word either way. What does it matter how it's pronounced?" Krash pouted._

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"_We lost reward, not that I really care. Frankly, if I want to survive out here, I need to portray myself as a goat, and to do that, I need to start talking down to people more than usual." Kendall said. "Everyone will see the value in keeping me and I'll get my strategy of sailing through the game back on track."_

"Well, you idiots blew that one. We could have used that reward." Kendall rolled his eyes.

"You weren't exactly helping, Kendall!" Erica snapped. "Don't blame this on us!"

"Why not? I didn't do anything in the challenge, so it's not MY fault we lost."

"Won't you just shut up, you arrogant creep?" Molly moaned. "You're starting to give me a headache."

"Screw you, pinky. This isn't about you." Kendall smirked.

"…_Okay, you know what? I was content with just sitting back and pretending that monkey didn't exist, but I'm past that now." Molly said. "He's on my list and let's leave it at that for now."_

"Seriously, what's wrong with you people?!" Kendall asked. "I seriously thought I'd have better luck over here since my other tribe lost so much, but as it turns out, you're just as incompetent!"

Barney stood aside, arms folded, as Kendall continued to go off. He didn't look amused.

"Kendall, you've already dug yourself deeper than you can climb out. DON'T make this even worse for yourself." Erica said.

"No. By all means, Erica, let him talk. Let's see how much he can make us all hate him even MORE." Molly interjected.

"Erica, you need to wake up and face the facts! You can't win, especially since your bodyguard Gary is gone!" Kendall laughed. "I'm on a mission here, and you're in my way! I'll take you out if I have to, just like I took out your only real friend."

Barney seethed and clenched his fists, which in turn tightened his muscles. Barney stepped forward silently, making a beeline straight for Kendall.

"_Voting out Kendall isn't enough. He thinks he's the smartest person in the game, when he's in reality nothing more than a wannabe-bully that needs to be brought down to Earth." Barney said darkly. "No…Simply voting him out is too good for him…"_

Before Kendall had time to go off any further, Barney grabbed him by the front of his shirt and held him high in the air with one arm, high enough that he was staring into Kendall's eyes.

"Listen to me and listen good, you arrogant, entitled little douche." Barney said darkly.

"Let go of me, you buffoon!" Kendall snapped.

"I SAID LISTEN TO ME!" Barney roared. "You are the most insufferable person I have ever met in my life and people like you make me sick! I've been putting up with you for more than two weeks now and I've just about HAD it with you! If you talked to people in real life like you do here, you'd have been beaten to a bloody pulp long ago!"

"You think you frighten me, you idiot?! That's a laugh!" Kendall mocked. "You're NOTHING to me!"

"I've seriously been THIS close from decking you for a long time!" Barney growled. "There is seriously NOTHING holding me back now!"

Despite the situation, Kendall smirked darkly. "Go ahead and hit me, then! I DARE you!" He said. "Oh, right! I forgot! You lay one hand on me and I'll see to it that you get ejected from the game for physical violence!"

Barney smirked right back with a smirk just as dark. "I know." He said as he pulled his free fist back.

Kendall's eyes snapped open.

Barney's fist connected with Kendall's face, sending the monkey flying backwards several feet. Kendall crashed back-first into a tree, resulting in what sounded like a painful crack coming from his body. Kendall fell flat on his face with a dull thud and was rendered unconscious.

The rest of the tribe stared in shock as Barney, seemingly unfazed at what he had just done, stood tall and stared at Kendall's prone form, breathing heavily.

_Erica sat in front of the camera, looking stunned. She didn't say anything._

"…_Whoa. Didn't think he had it in him." Sandy said, genuinely surprised._

"_Totally worth it." Barney said, arms folded and smirking._

**(Xon Tribe)**

Inferno stared in shock as Chloe, soaking wet, dragged a huge fish to shore. "I saw that and I STILL don't believe it." He said.

"I TOLD you I could do it!" Chloe said cheerfully.

"I know, but…It's physically IMPOSSIBLE." Grace said, eyes wide.

"_How the heck is someone as small as Chloe able to successfully fish with her bare hands and catch a fish that's twice as big as SHE is?" Grace asked. "I know she said Sandy taught her…But it STILL doesn't make any sense!"_

"At least we aren't going hungry tonight." Renaldo said. "I could probably cook this thing up a few different ways if anyone's interested in some variety."

"You can cook as well?" Edwina asked.

"Well, you know a bit about cooking things after wielding a flamethrower a few times." Renaldo rubbed his head.

"You always seem to find new ways to weird me out, man." Inferno shook his head.

"So you're surprised?"

"No. I just said that it weirds me out."

"_I may be a pessimist, but I'm an extremely-CAPABLE pessimist." Renaldo pointed out._

"Hey, guys? This treemail just arrived." Tempo said as he walked over to where everyone was sitting.

"Another treemail?" Elias asked. "But we just had the challenge."

"What's it say?" Edwina asked.

"Attention Xon Tribe. After the challenge, there was an altercation at the Arkos Tribe between two people and it went to the extremes." Tempo read. "We were forced to pull someone from the game, and as such there will be no challenge or Tribal Council tomorrow in order to make up for it."

"Wait. Someone got pulled from the game?" Edwina asked.

"Wow. A fight? Has that ever gone too far here?" Grace asked.

"I don't think so." Krash scratched his head.

"_I've never heard of a fight taken so far that someone had to be pulled from the game. It must have gotten serious." Krash folded his arms. "Hey, at least I know I'd never take things too far. I'd try to make amends for making the other person mad in the first place."  
_

"_It's kinda weird. Once someone gets pulled from the game, we'll have even more of an advantage." Edwina said. "I don't like the fact that things went too far, but…What's done is done, I guess."_

**(Arkos Tribe)**

SSBFreak walked into camp with a staff doctor. "I hear there's been an altercation here." He said.

"Barney ended up punching Kendall's lights out." Reginald replied.

"It was AWESOME!" Sandy cheered.

Barney hadn't moved from the spot. He sighed as the host came over and the doctor went over to Kendall's still-unconscious form.

"Barney, you know that we have a set of rules that we like to enforce." SSBFreak said.

"Yes." Barney nodded.

"You also know that one of the biggest rules is that we don't allow physical violence outside of the challenges."

"Yes."

"Barney, you punched Kendall and broke the biggest rule in the Survivor handbook." SSBFreak said. "We're going to have to expel you from the game."

"No! Don't do that! He was just mad at Kendall!" Erica said.

"It's fine. It was totally worth it." Barney said, forming a light smirk.

"So long as you're okay with it." SSBFreak said. "I also hope you know that Kendall will likely want to press charges.

Barney's smirk got bigger. "Let him. I'm friends with the best defense lawyer money can buy." He replied.

"Sir, I've got a report on Kendall." The doctor said as he came over.

"What's the diagnosis?" The host asked.

"He's got a concussion, a couple of broken ribs and a dislocated arm. And that's without my medical equipment." The doctor replied. "There's no question. Kendall's not fit to continue."

SSBFreak sighed. "Very well. We'll pull Kendall from the game as well." He looked at Barney. "Barney, you'll have to come with us since you're no longer in the game."

"That's fine." Barney shrugged.

SSBFreak looked at the others. "Let this serve as a reminder for all of you. We don't tolerate physical violence, and if you break this rule ONCE, you will get no second chances." He warned.

With that, SSBFreak left the camp, with the doctor in tow. Some staff members carried Kendall out of camp while Barney contently brought up the rear, giving a wave to Erica as he walked away. Soon enough, everyone was gone from camp, leaving five still-stunned members of Arkos remaining.

"…Well, THIS sucks." Molly said flatly.

**Voting History:**

**Barney – NO VOTE (EJECTED)**

**Kendall – NO VOTE (EVACUATED)**

Author's Notes: Something I've never really seen happen in Survivor or a spinoff yet is an altercation where BOTH attacker and attackee were ousted from the game. I wanted to try making a double-boot episode where no one was actually voted off, and this was the best way to do it.

I'll be honest: This altercation was the main reason I cast Barney at all. The main reason Barney didn't have a fight with Bonnie back in season one was because he needed to go farther. I knew that if I cast him specifically to be expelled from the game, I'd be able to actually let him punch someone.

I know some of you were upset that I picked Kendall over Samantha when casting players, but in beta drafts of the season, it was indeed Samantha who came back, leaving the exact same way Kendall did here: Angering Barney and getting punched. However, Samantha's owner said that if she came back Samantha would play smarter and watch her mouth, which wouldn't make her someone that could set Barney off. When Kendall's owner said that Kendall wouldn't learn anything between seasons and be just as arrogant as before, I knew I had someone Barney could attack.

I know some disliked Kendall because he didn't have the best personality, and some disliked Barney because he didn't have much of a personality at all, so I hope this decision will make everyone happy with at least one of the boots.


	8. Days 17 to 19

**(Arkos Tribe)**

The five remaining members of Arkos stood silently long after SSBFreak had left the camp, taking Barney and Kendall out of the game. Needless to say, everyone was still surprised at the events that had just transpired.

"What…What the heck just happened?" Erica asked.

"Barney just put us into a three-person disadvantage, that's what." Molly rolled her eyes.

"_Why did that idiot flat-out attack Kendall like that? I mean, not that it matters to me, but we were already at a disadvantage before that happened." Molly folded her arms. "Now we're at a three-person disadvantage, and that's going to make it even harder for us."_

"_Wow! That was awesome! Not even I saw that punch coming! Barney always struck me as a nice guy that didn't have the backbone to actually follow up on a threat." Sandy shrugged. "Considering it took the annoying little monkey out of the game, I don't mind being wrong about it."_

"So now what?" Mel sighed. "With Barney gone, we don't have any physical strength on our tribe."

"You guys still have me, right?" Sandy asked with a smirk.

Mel blinked a few times before turning to her tribe again. "Like I said, we don't have any physical strength on our tribe." She repeated. Sandy pouted.

"Mental challenges shouldn't be a problem, though." Molly said.

"That's probably all we can really hope for at this point." Reginald said.

Erica still seemed in shock. "Why did Barney do that?" She asked. "I mean, for that matter, we could have just thrown the Immunity Challenge and voted out Kendall anyway."

"He probably didn't want to take any chances that Kendall would work his way to safety like last time." Reginald replied. "It's probably for the best."

"_I'm let down that Barney did something like that when it was completely avoidable. I mean, I hated Kendall, but I was willing to wait until Tribal Council to get rid of him." Erica pointed out. "Man. I really liked him, too. Why are my favourite players going home so early?"_

"_If there's a silver lining to what just happened, it's that Barney gave me a bit of a chance to take control of the game again." Reginald said. "Yes, he took a piece of dead weight out of the game, but he also took himself out, thus bringing the original Xon power alliance down a bit. This just leaves Erica and Inferno, and that's far-more manageable than four people."_

The tribe had to wait a little longer for night to arrive, but when it did, they all went to bed. After the day that they just had, they figured that they needed the rest.

**(Xon Tribe; Day 17)**

"_Well, after hearing that Renaldo hadn't hooked up with Edwina yet, I figured that it was time to do a little matchmaker." Chloe winked. "I'm sure that if I can get Renaldo to act the man here, the two could hit it off pretty well."_

"Okay, time to give you some pointers for wooing Edwina." Chloe said as she pulled Renaldo aside.

"Why are you so intent on this?" Renaldo asked.

"Because I know for a fact that you like her and you haven't acted yet." Chloe said. "It's time for you to grow a pair, man!"

"And I assume you think you can help me with that?"

"Sure! Okay, for starters, what is it you do for fun?"

"Uh…Fun?..." Renaldo asked. "I dunno. I spend most of my time shooting things and fighting for my life."

Chloe blinked. "Okay, that's great! Now we know that you need to keep Edwina away from your world at all costs. Instead, YOU go to HER world and find things to do there." She explained.

"Right. Great idea." Renaldo said flatly.

"_Believe me, I want to hook up with Edwina, but I've never really been good with women…And that may be because there is a severe lack of them where I come from." Renaldo sighed. "I know Chloe's intentions are good, but I don't need advice on what to do WHEN I hook up with her, but for what to say to her to even get that far."_

Meanwhile, Elias was watching the two from afar, wondering what they were talking about. Elias glanced around before focusing on the two for a few seconds. Grace came wandering over.

"What's Renaldo doing talking to Chloe?" Grace asked. "Is he trying to sway her over to our side?"

Elias paused, then shook his head. "Looks more like a conversation about Renaldo's love life." He explained.

"Oh, that's…Wait." Grace said. "How do you know that?"

"I have experience reading lips. It's part of being an actor." Elias smirked.

"That could have come in way handier earlier, you know."

"I don't like being exploited. So sue me."

"_There wasn't any harm in Chloe's conversation with Renaldo if it was solely about Renaldo and Edwina." Elias shrugged. "Grace seemed a bit apprehensive at first, but she needs to realize that not everything's about strategy."_

"_Can you blame me for being suspicious? Two members of opposing alliances talking together seems a little off to me." Grace said. "I guess part of it's because I don't want to get blindsided like I was back in season three."_

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 17)**

"_After losing Gary, and then Barney's actions take out both him and Kendall, I realize that I'm the only guy left with four girls." Reginald said. "If the girls wanted to gang up and take me out, there's nothing stopping them. I need to find a way to survive, or at least form a stronger alliance with Mel and Molly."_

"You want to…Strengthen the alliance?" Mel asked, an eyebrow lifted.

"Call it being paranoid, girls. The last thing I want is to be blindsided in a gender war." Reginald shook his head.

Molly couldn't help but smirk. "Looks like you've realized how much power you'd been screwed out of, right?" She asked.

"Molly, you're not helping." Mel muttered before turning back to Reginald. "But why would we join the others? I mean, the three of us are already in an alliance."

"Like I said, maybe it's me being paranoid." Reginald replied.

"You expect us to stray from the current alliance in order to join Crazy McPsycho?" Molly asked, jerking her thumb over to where Sandy was juggling coconuts.

Reginald paused, then shrugged. "You make a valid point."

"_I'd be tempted with the chance to go off and start working with other alliances, but look who I'm stuck with here. Erica I know nothing about and I'd rather gnaw my leg off than join Sandy." Molly folded her arms. "Mel and I will stick with Reginald for now, but when the time comes, we'll ditch him."_

"So where does this leave us, then?" Mel asked. "We've got a three-person disadvantage."

"So long as the challenge isn't physical, we've got a shot." Reginald waved it off.

"Not that the other tribe has very strong players, either." Molly noted.

"I suppose not. I mean, who's the strongest on their tribe? Krash?"

"Him or Inferno. I never really cared enough to look into it."

"_It feels kinda weird how all of the physical threats have gone so quickly. With Krash and Inferno as the only ones left, we've got an advantage in the brains department." Mel explained. "I mean, we obviously won't know what the challenge will be like until we get there, but we can at least have our fingers crossed that strength won't be a factor."_

"_Why do I have a feeling we've just been jinxed?" Reginald asked flatly._

**(Xon Tribe)**

"_Being a fan of the show, I know how things are going to pan out if things aren't handled properly." Edwina said. "I'm going to need to get to know more about the others for future reference. Not only is there a chance we may end up having a contestant-based trivia challenge, but it'll give me a better chance to get their votes in the finals."_

Edwina sat down near the fire pit, where the trio of Inferno, Krash and Tempo were sitting. "How about I get to know you two a little better?" She asked Krash and Tempo. "After all, I don't think we've really talking much since the swap."

Tempo appeared to be a little apprehensive. "Uh…Well, I don't know what there is to even TALK about." He reasoned. "I mean, I was a mid-jury boot in my season, so I don't know how much I can tell you about it."

"And I was gone before the merge." Krash shrugged.

"I'm not talking about your seasons. I just want to get to know you guys a little more." Edwina insisted.

Inferno remained silent, but kept his eyes on everyone present. He seemed suspicious about something.

"_Something went off in the back of my head; Edwina's trying to get some sort of info out of the guys. She's a Survivor fangirl; she knows how the game works." Inferno pointed out. "While I wouldn't put it past her that she's actually trying to talk normally, something's telling me otherwise."_

"Like…I don't know. Tell me about your hobbies…Your favourite music…Do you have girlfriends?" Edwina asked.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Krash said. "Chloe says that you and Renaldo aren't together. Is that true?"

"Uh…What're you saying?" Edwina asked, an eyebrow lifted.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that I thought he had a huge crush on you and all." Krash shrugged.

"…Wait. What?"

"I mean, what kind of guy stabs himself with a rock for a girl he doesn't have some kind of attachment to, right?" Krash said. "I just wanted to ask you straight up."

Edwina appeared to be blushing furiously now, her eyes wide. Edwina quickly stood up. "Um…How about we pick this up at a later date?" She asked. "I…Need to go over there."

With that, Edwina briskly walked away, looking stunned. Once she was gone, Tempo and Inferno looked visibly relieved.

"That was TOO close." Tempo said. "I was afraid she'd try to get me to spill something I shouldn't."

"I know. That could have ended very differently." Inferno nodded before turning to Krash. "How'd you do that, anyway?"

"How'd I do what?" Krash asked.

"_I really don't like being rude in a conversation, so when Edwina started prodding, I just kinda sat back and let Krash take all the heat." Tempo said. "I mean, since he was the only one of the three of us that seemed interested in carrying a conversation and all."_

_Krash scratched his head. He shrugged._

**(Arkos Tribe)**

Mel was sitting by the shelter, alone, relaxing as the others were off doing their own things. After a few moments of silence, Mel glanced over her shoulder.

"Why do I have a strange feeling that I'm being watched?" Mel asked before shrugging and looking away again.

Just after she looked away, Erica and Sandy poked their heads above a bush. "Are you sure this is going to work?" Erica asked.

"Trust me; I'm an accountant." Sandy winked.

"I still don't see what that has to do with this…"

Sandy was silent. "What DOESN'T it have to do with it?"

"_Now that Kendall's gone, I can go back to enjoying the experience. Call me a fangirl, but people like Anita and Mel are some of my favourite players ever, and I've always wanted a lock of their hair." Erica said with a smile. "Well, Sandy said she'd help me get some of Mel's hair since Anita was voted out before I got the chance to take some of hers."_

"You gotta be silent. Silent like…A mime at church." Sandy said.

Erica blinked. "There's a visual."

"You have to lead the victim into a false sense of security before pouncing." Sandy said before pausing. "By the way. How much of Mel's hair did you want?"

"Uh…Just a lock." Erica said before realizing something. "DON'T shave her bald."

Sandy pouted and trudged out to Mel, silently cut off a small portion of hair and trudged back, handing it to Erica. "Here. Eat up." She said.

Erica squealed as she held the lock of Mel's hair in her hand. "Oh, thank you! This is awesome!" She said.

"Next time give me a challenge, okay?" Sandy asked. "You want me to go to the other tribe and shave Elias' mustache? Cause I will."

"_Seriously, if she wanted me to get her a lock of someone's hair, why not go for broke? I mean, it's just hair; Mel can grow it back again." Sandy shrugged. "For all I know, Crane could be into bald chicks."_

"_Why does the back of my neck feel a breeze all of a sudden?" Mel asked as she felt her neck, around where there was a lock of hair suspiciously missing._

Night eventually rolled in for the two tribes. Expecting a challenge the following day, everyone decided to go to bed.

**(Xon Tribe; Day 18)**

"Ready for the challenge today?" Inferno asked.

"I think so. I'm actually more-interested in finding out who got pulled from the game." Tempo said.

"I know. I still want to know what happened."

"_All we know is that there was an altercation and someone had to be pulled from the game. I, for one, would like to know who that was." Tempo noted. "I can only hope that it wasn't Sandy that got pulled, because that would be bad for the alliance."_

"You think it's a Reward Challenge?" Tempo asked.

"I think so. It'd be their way of making up for the fact that the last episode was cut short." Inferno shrugged.

"_Considering that we only got as far as the Reward Challenge last time before something happened, I'm assuming we've got another Reward today to make up for it." Inferno said. "We'll have a bit of an advantage in the challenge, and I'm sure that Arkos will be fighting hard no matter what challenge it is."_

"We've got treemail." Renaldo said as he walked into camp.

"Sweet! What's it say?" Krash asked.

"It's wondering how well we can balance something."

"Another balancing challenge?" Inferno asked.

"This one's worded a bit differently, though…" Elias noted. "I'm thinking it'll be some sort of endurance challenge."

"Aw, man! I hate those things!" Chloe whined.

"_I hate endurance challenges because I suck at them, and if we have to balance things, that makes it even worse." Chloe sighed. "I'm thankful we've got an advantage, so that means I can sit out if need be."_

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 18)**

"Why do you want to get rid of Erica first?" Mel asked. "I mean, isn't Sandy a bigger threat?"

"Is she really? Think about it, Mel. We know next to nothing about Erica." Molly explained. "Take it from me; It's easy to put on a façade and make people believe you're something you're not."

"Gary seemed to know her, though." Mel shrugged.

"_Molly seems to think that Erica's a huge threat here. Well, since she made it to third, I won't disagree with that, but I still say Sandy's a bigger threat now." Mel explained. "That and I'd feel guilty if I voted out someone who was apparently a big fan of me…"_

"I still say Sandy's a better choice of targets now." Mel explained. "You said yourself that you didn't like her."

"I don't, and while she may be a threat, we at least know what to expect with her." Molly folded her arms.

"_Mel's too soft. I can tell that her conscience is holding her back from voting out Erica. I also know that choices like this are going to come back to bite her in the end." Molly said. "Hey, if they do, it's no skin off my back, but I'd prefer it if it happened when I didn't need her anymore."_

"We've got treemail, girls." Reginald said as he walked into camp.

"Great. What's it say, Reggie?" Sandy asked.

"Reginald." Reginald corrected flatly as he tore open the treemail and read it. "Looks like we've got another balancing challenge ahead of us."

"We should be able to manage." Erica said. "Even if we're down a few people."

Mel suddenly noticed that Erica had a lock of black hair tied to a handmade necklace she was wearing. Mel tilted her head in confusion. "Uh…Where'd you get that necklace, Erica?" She asked.

"Sandy got it for me. Isn't it cool?"

"_Maybe after this is over I can get Anita to give me a lock of her hair as well so I can add it to the necklace." Erica said hopefully._

_Mel felt the back of her head again silently, looking a little weirded out._

**(Reward Challenge)**

The eight members of Xon stood on their mat in a clearing, waiting for the challenge to start. Like before, the Arkos mat was empty for now.

"Before we start, let's bring out the Arkos Tribe." SSBFreak said as the Arkos Tribe stepped into view. The Xon Tribe was surprised to see that there were TWO people gone from the tribe. "Barney was ejected from the game for attacking Kendall, and the injuries were severe enough for us to pull Kendall as well."

"Wow. I sure didn't see that one coming." Tempo said as the five Arkos members stepped onto their mat.

"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, everyone. Here, we will be seeing how well you can balance a stack without knocking it over." SSBFreak explained. "You will compete against each other, balancing clay pots on your arms. As time passes, we will add more pots, and will continue to add them until everyone drops their stacks. The last person remaining will win Reward, which is a large jug of clean water for your tribe."

"Xon Tribe, you now have THREE extra people." SSBFreak continued. "Who are you sitting out?"

"Chloe, Elias, and…Um…" Grace said as she paused, not expecting to sit three people out. "Renaldo."

"Okay. If everyone else will come over here, we can begin."

The ten participating players walked over to start the challenge as the three non-participants sat down. Each of the ten players was giving a wooden tray, and two clay pots were stacked onto each one to start off with.

"Each of you now have two clay pots, and the challenge has officially started." SSBFreak explained. "Inferno, how do you think you can manage in a challenge like this?"

"I'm fine for now, but I can't see myself balancing a stack if it gets too high." Inferno shook his head.

"Reginald, could you care to elaborate on what happened back at your tribe during the aforementioned altercation between Barney and Kendall?"

"Why do you choose in the middle of a challenge about concentration to ask these questions?!" Reginald asked. "We're busy trying to win, here!"

SSBFreak blinked a few times, then shrugged. "Okay. I'll get back to you in a bit to see how well you're doing." He said.

The ten contestants managed to hold their own and stay in the game long enough for an additional clay pot to be added to each stack. Everyone was now holding up a stack of three pots, and a couple of people looked like they were starting to wobble.

Krash was the first to falter, his stack tipping over despite his efforts to get better balance.

"Krash is out. It's 5-4 for Arkos."

"That didn't go as well as I had hoped." Krash sighed as he walked over to the others and sat down.

"Molly, it looks like you're struggling." SSBFreak noted. "Are you?"

"Shut up and let me concentrate." Molly said gruffly.

SSBFreak sighed. "The villains are always the grumpy ones in the challenge." He muttered before moving on. "Grace, how are the arms holding up?"

"We only just started. They're fine." Grace said simply.

Molly suddenly dropped her stack of pots, unable to regain balance. Molly cursed her luck.

"Molly is out. It's tied at 4."

Reginald appeared to be in thought for a moment. He glanced over at Elias, who was sitting on the ground by himself, before dropping his pots purposefully. "Ugh!" He cursed.

"Reginald is out as well. It's now 4-3 for Xon."

As the game continued, Reginald sat down beside Elias. Making sure none of the others were watching, Reginald fished his fake idol from his pocket and passed it to Elias. "Here. Take it." He said.

"Your fake idol? What for?" Elias asked.

"Kendall used the real one from Xon to eliminate Gary, so everyone knows what the real one looks like." Reginald said. "The Xon players are still in the dark, so maybe you can try and fool them into using it."

"That's actually not a bad idea." Elias admitted as he accepted the idol and pocketed it.

By now, a fourth pot had been added to each player's stack. It looked like the players were starting to struggle, and Edwina caved in pretty quickly, although Erica's stack collapsed just after Edwina's.

"Edwina and Erica are both out. The score is now 3-2 for Xon."

This left Inferno, Grace and Tempo against Mel and Sandy. While Mel and Sandy were outnumbered, they appeared to have the most concentration of those left standing.

"How are the arms now, Tempo?" SSBFreak asked.

"Getting a little tired, but I can manage." Tempo said. "I can certainly outlast the others, if that's what you're saying."

"Sandy, how about you? You feeling anything?"

"Nope. In fact, I'm getting a little bored." Sandy replied.

"Don't you DARE drop out of the challenge, Sandy!" Reginald called out.

"But it's BORING up here!" Sandy whined.

Nevertheless, Sandy decided to stick it out and not drop her stack. This continued until a fifth pot was added to everyone's stack, and that alone proved to be too much for Grace, who dropped out shortly after being given a fifth pot.

"Grace is out. The score is tied again at 2."

Inferno suddenly wavered in place, trying to regain his balance. However, it was all for naught, as his pots toppled over despite his attempts to avoid it.

"Inferno is out. Arkos regains the lead at 2-1." SSBFreak explained. "Tempo must outlast both Mel and Sandy if Xon is going to win."

"Thanks for the pressure." Tempo muttered as he focused on his stack of pots to keep them balanced.

"We just need to hold them up a little longer, Sandy." Mel said. "We just have to beat out Tempo."

"This'd be a snap if I was so bored." Sandy said. "Maybe I should start playing crossword puzzles in my head…" She paused in thought for a few seconds. "…What's a seven-letter word for 'steak'?"

"Sirloin." Mel said flatly.

"Oh! Thanks!"

The final three players managed to keep their stacks balanced until a sixth pot was added to each stack. This seemed to make things harder for the players as they tried to stay in the game. All three looked like they were struggling to keep their balance.

"I think this challenge could be over very soon." SSBFreak said. "All three of the remaining players look like they're having trouble."

In the end, one person couldn't keep up with holding up six clay pots at once and their stack toppled over clumsily. Tempo tried to keep his stack up, but couldn't keep up with it and almost got hit with a couple as they were coming down.

"Tempo is out, and that means that the challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Arkos wins Reward!"

"Yes! We did it!" Mel cheered as she dropped her stack.

Tempo sighed. "So close, and yet so far." He muttered.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Arkos. The large jug of water will be delivered to your tribe and should be set up by the time you get back." SSBFreak explained as he turned to the losing tribe. "Xon, I have nothing for you. Hopefully, you'll be able to do better in tomorrow's Immunity Challenge and make use of this three-person advantage you have. You can all head back to camp."

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"Whoa. Look at the size of that water jug." Mel noted as she saw the huge water dispenser sitting beside the shelter.

"Try to ration it. It's probably meant to last us the rest of the game." Reginald noted.

"I kinda figured that."

"_We won Reward, and I passed my fake idol to Elias without anyone noticing. It had no use for me and Elias may still be able to fool the other tribe with it." Reginald explained. "I'm counting on this working for him, because if it doesn't and he gets called out for it, it'll do even more damage to the alliance."_

Erica took one of the provided cups and poured herself a drink of water. "So now that we got that win out of the way, do you think we can keep up this morale for Immunity?" She asked.

"We really need the victory when you consider how much we're down by." Mel sighed.

"I say we worry about that tomorrow and for now enjoy the Reward." Molly suggested. "Honestly, I've gotten tired of drinking seawater days ago and I really need a drink."

"_We've always been severely-limited when it comes to drinking water. The best we can do is boil seawater until it's okay to drink, and even then it doesn't taste that good." Molly shook her head as she held a cup of water in her hand. "Yes, this stuff is just water, but it's still a welcome taste as far as I'm concerned."_

"I'm actually surprised you two were able to stick it out to the end." Reginald said to Mel and Sandy before turning to the latter. "And I'm even MORE surprised that you stayed through it and didn't drop out of boredom."

"I was getting close, I'll admit." Sandy shrugged.

"I don't think I could have lasted much longer. We just lucked out that Tempo dropped first." Mel pointed out.

"Not that I'm complaining. You still did it." Reginald shrugged.

"_When I'm forced to stand in one place too long, I tend to get bored. As I said, I was very close to just dropping out of the challenge out of boredom, and I probably would have done it if Tempo didn't drop first." Sandy shrugged. "I'm one of those people that can't sit still for very long."_

"We just need to hold off a bit longer and hope that tomorrow's challenge isn't physical either." Erica said. "Since this challenge wasn't physical or mental, I think there's still a chance that we could have an advantage."

"Ditto. Inferno and Krash could take all of us on in a challenge." Molly nodded.

"_Boy, you learn to respect your physical tribe members when they all go before they logically should." Erica noted. "We've honestly been doing nothing but wish for a non-physical challenge tomorrow."_

**(Xon Tribe)**

"Ugh. So close! I totally could have done that!" Tempo moaned. "If I had known how close those two were to dropping their stacks, I would have tried to last longer!"

"You can't keep beating yourself up about it. What's done is done." Grace shrugged.

"_Well, we didn't win the Reward, which doesn't bother me as much because I can take solace in knowing that it wasn't Immunity." Grace pointed out. "We're just going to have to try harder tomorrow and leave it at that, because it's pretty much all we can do at this point."_

"Here's hoping it's something physical." Inferno said. "At least we know that we outclass the other tribe in strength."

"Too bad about Barney, though." Chloe sighed.

"Yeah. That sucks. I wonder when set him off enough to attack Kendall…"

"_Well, with Barney gone, my original alliance is down to two members, and with Erica on the other tribe, I could be the odd man out." Inferno explained. "Tempo and Chloe seem close, so I doubt they'd take me over each other, and Krash…Well, he seems dedicated to Sandy."_

Meanwhile, Elias was watching the others, fingering the idol that Reginald had given him. He scanned around to see what he could do with it.

"_Reginald gave me his fake idol since the real one for this tribe apparently isn't here anymore. I've got a chance to fool someone with it, but I need to figure out who the best target is." Elias said. "Who here is liable to fall for a fake idol?...Probably someone originally from Xon. However, since I don't want to screw over Grace and Edwina yet, that leaves my only viable target Inferno…"_

"He's too smart to fall for this." Elias muttered. "I'm going to need a different target…"

Elias suddenly saw Krash coming, looking around for the idol, and got an idea. "Perfect. He'll do fine." He said as he quickly planted the idol and made himself scarce.

"Hmm…The idol I'm looking for should look like the one Sandy found…" Krash muttered as he looked around. "Is there a place that hasn't been checked yet?"

Krash looked around the bushes where Elias had planted the fake idol and quickly stumbled across it. Krash paused as he scooped the idol up and examined it.

"…This isn't the real thing! It's a fake!" Krash said.

"_Someone's planted a fake idol and wanted me to find and use it, probably making myself look like an idiot in the process." Krash said flatly, not looking amused. "Hey, I'll admit that I'm dumb…But I'm not THAT dumb! I should know what the real thing looks like because Sandy found it!"_

"So who planted it?" Krash mused. "Maybe I should take this to the others and see what they think…"

With that, Krash walked off, putting the fake idol into his vest pocket. Elias watched this from afar and didn't look amused.

Elias cursed himself. "I think I just dug myself deeper." He muttered.

Night eventually rolled in. Knowing that there would be an all-important Immunity Challenge the following day, everyone went to sleep to prepare for it.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 19)**

"_If we're going to get enough votes for Erica, I need to make sure people are on my side with it. Mel's a bit of a question mark here because she's obviously hesitant about voting for someone who obviously adores her." Molly rolled her eyes. "However, Reginald I think will be easier to relay the message to and bring on board."_

"Why Erica again?" Reginald asked. "Frankly, I think I'd rather get rid of Sandy now and be done with it."

"Reginald, let me ask you this: What exactly do you know about Erica in the first place?" Molly asked.

Reginald paused. "Nothing." He replied.

"Exactly. Wouldn't that logically make her a bigger threat for people like us?" Molly repeated. "At least with Sandy, we know what to expect."

"You've got a point."

"_I may detest how much Sandy seems to single me out to annoy me, but I have to admit that she's otherwise not a real threat." Reginald explained. "The fact that Erica's got the element of surprise here because she's from a season none of us have seen yet could make her a pretty big threat for my game."_

"So what do you suggest?" Reginald asked. "We can't afford to lose another challenge. It'll put us even further behind."

"I know, but keep it in the back of your head for if and when we actually DO lose the challenge." Molly explained.

"We've got some treemail, people!" Erica announced as she walked into camp.

"Time for Immunity, then." Mel said. "What's it say?"

"It's wondering if any of us are good with numbers." Erica replied.

Everyone froze, then slowly turned their gaze towards Sandy, who was rocking back and forth on her feet and whistling innocently.

Reginald couldn't help but smirk. "We've got a chance."

"_Sometimes, you have to work for an opportunity to get back in the game, and other times it just waltzes right up behind you and screams in your ear." Erica smiled._

"…_I like trains." Sandy said brightly. "Do you like trains? I like trains!"_

**(Xon Tribe; Day 19)**

"This is a fake idol you found?" Inferno asked, inspecting the idol Krash had found.

"Yeah. Sandy found the real one on Arkos and showed it to us." Krash nodded.

"We can vouch for him. That looks nothing like Sandy's idol." Tempo pointed out.

"_So apparently someone here planted a fake idol, but wasn't expecting us to already know what the real one looked like." Tempo said. "Now raises the question: Who planted it? I honestly think it's either Elias or Grace just because it seems like something they'd do."_

"Who could have planted it?" Chloe asked.

"I think we can rule out Edwina and Renaldo." Tempo replied. "This doesn't seem like them."

"You don't want to rule out Grace, though?" Inferno asked.

"Remember the stunts she pulled back in your season with that fake idol?"

"…Yeah. I do."

"_Now that I think about it, Grace is liable to come up with something like this. The problem with it is that she probably knows by now how much that killed her last time." Inferno said. "I'm not sure if she'd be willing to try it again."_

"We've got treemail." Edwina announced as she walked into camp.

"So what's it say?" Grace asked.

"Are any of us good with numbers?"

The colour seemed to drain from Tempo's face. "Crap. Sandy's going to walk all over us by herself." He said.

"Then we'll just need to try and keep her from winning it, won't we?" Elias asked.

"_This isn't good. I've seen how good with numbers Sandy is. It's one of few things where she has the patience to stick through, and she can count amazingly fast." Grace said. "We're just going to have to hope that there's more to this challenge than it seems."_

"_How many challenges have there actually BEEN that revolve around numbers, anyway?" Chloe asked. "I mean, there's really not a whole lot of variety to be had, there…"_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The two tribes emerged from the jungle and onto another clearing again. Seeing their tribe mats on the ground, everyone walked over and stepped on.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, everyone. Here, we will be testing both your puzzle-solving skills and your abilities with numbers." SSBFreak explained. Everyone saw two boards set up behind the host. "You will be given two sets of five numbers, and will be told to arrange them properly according to the hints provided. Once both five-digit numbers have been arranged properly, you must then add the two to come up with another number. The first team to add the two five-digit numbers together will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

"Xon, you still have three extra players. Who will be sitting out?"

"Krash, Edwina and Chloe." Grace replied.

"Okay. If everyone else would come over here, we can begin."

The ten remaining players walked over to the two boards and stepped up to one. They saw two groups of numbers sitting nearby, clearly marked which set of numbers they belonged to.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready…Go!"

Mel was quick to look at the numbers in the first batch. "Okay. There's two 3's, a 5, a 7 and an 8." She said.

"Let's see what the hints say about it, then." Reginald said as he looked at a hint that was scribbled on the board. "The first number doesn't end or begin in a 3."

"So both 3's are somewhere in the middle three digits." Erica nodded.

The Xon Tribe had the same numbers and hints as the Arkos Tribe, and were trying their hardest to get an early lead.

"Looks like the two 3's aren't side by side either." Tempo noted. "Well, I guess that makes it obvious where they go, right?"

"Right. In slots 2 and 4." Inferno noted as he put the two 3's into the provided slots.

"What's the next hint?" Renaldo asked.

Grace looked at the hints. "7 comes before 8, and within one number of each other." She replied.

"Looks like both teams are going at a similar pace." SSBFreak announced.

The tribes continued to work on the puzzles, trying to figure out how the numbers would be arranged. At the moment, the two tribes seemed neck-and-neck.

"7 comes before 8?" Molly asked. "That means the first number is either 53,738 or 73,835."

"What's the next clue, Reggie?" Sandy asked.

Reginald decided to ignore Sandy and looked at the next hint. "The last number is not a 5." He said.

"That settles it, then." Molly nodded.

The Arkos Tribe moved their numbers into place for the first numbers, coming up with 53,738. This left the second number for them to focus on.

"Okay, what've we got?" Erica said as she picked up the numbers. "A 1, an 8, two 4's and a 6."

Meanwhile, the Xon Tribe was still on their first number, although they looked like they were catching up to the Arkos Tribe.

"Does the 7 go here or here?" Renaldo asked.

"The hint says that the number doesn't end in a 5, so the 7 would need to go here." Grace said as she put the numbers into place.

"Okay. That's the first number done. Not too hard." Elias said. "Now for the second number."

"There's only two hints for the second one." Grace read.

Meanwhile, Reginald had read the first clue for the second number.

"One of the 4's has a different number on each side of it." Reginald read.

"That's a start, but it's not exactly helpful." Mel noted. "What's the second hint?"

"It just says that the two 4's aren't side by side."

"That's…Actually pretty vague."

"What? Did you guys expect the second puzzle to be as easy as the first?" SSBFreak asked with a smirk.

"We'll have to start guessing the numbers and hope we get it right, then." Erica said.

"They're slowing down. If we can pull ahead here, we may be able to keep the lead." Elias said to his team.

"That doesn't help us with this problem, though." Inferno scratched his head as he scanned the hint.

"Just take some guesses. Hopefully we'll get lucky faster than they do."

The two teams proceeded to rearrange the numbers for their second numbers into any combination they could think of that still followed the advice from the hints. However, they were notified that the second number was wrong each time they made an adjustment.

"What started as an orderly challenge has quickly turned to chaos." SSBFreak announced.

"And whose fault is that?" Edwina asked, an eyebrow lifted.

"What about…46,481?" Mel asked.

Molly rearranged the numbers, only to get a buzzer sound when she did. "Not it." She replied.

"Switch the 8 and 6 around."

Another buzzer. "Still not it." Molly shook her head.

"How many possible combinations do we have?" Mel asked.

"Probably too many."

Meanwhile, the Xon Tribe was having similar problems and frustrations trying to find the right number. They had been getting nothing but buzzes for their guesses on the second number so far.

"Man. This is frustrating after how easy the first number was to piece together." Tempo sighed.

"That's the point of the challenge." Grace noted.

"Try putting the 1 up front and work our way from there." Elias said. "Let's see…14,846?"

Tempo put the numbers into position, but was quickly greeted by a buzzing sound. "No dice."

"14,648?"

"…Nope."

The Arkos Tribe continued to try and piece their numbers together, still with little success.

"Let's try and think logically. If we're adding the two numbers together, what would you guess is the first number?" Reginald asked.

"Probably the biggest number." Molly said as she put the 8 into the first slot.

"Okay. Let's work from there." Reginald said. "84,641?"

"…That wasn't it, Reginald." Mel shook her head.

"Switch the 6 and 1 around and try that."

Mel put the two numbers into their slots, coming up with 84,146. The tribe waited impatiently for a few seconds. This time, the buzzer didn't sound.

"That's it! That was the number!" Mel exclaimed.

"Sandy, that's your cue! Start adding!" Erica said.

Sandy quickly approached the board and grabbed the nearby pen. She scanned over the two numbers and quickly started working numbers together.

"Crap! They got the number right!" Tempo cursed.

"Pick up the pace!" Grace ordered.

"Let's see…53,738 plus 84,146…" Sandy said as she quickly wrote numbers down. "Yadda, yadda, yadda. Carry the one…Yadda, yadda…" Sandy finished filling out the number and slammed the pen back down. "Finished!"

SSBFreak looked at Sandy's answer, seeing that she had come up with 137,884 as her answer. "That's indeed correct! The challenge is over!" He announced. "Arkos wins Immunity!"

"Woohoo! Way to rebound from defeat!" Erica cheered.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Arkos. You are all safe for another few days out here." SSBFreak explained before turning to the losing tribe. "Xon, I'll be seeing you all tonight where you will be voting one of your own out of the game. This will be your first Tribal Council in a bit, so I'm sure there will be a lot to talk about when you get there. You can all head back to camp."

**(Xon Tribe)**

"_Well, we lost our first Immunity challenge since the swap, and it feels a little weird since I haven't been to council since day 3. Not a bad streak." Tempo shrugged. "Still, we have to vote for someone and it looks like it's going to be a 4 on 4."_

"So who's the target?" Tempo asked. "Have we determined who planted the fake idol?"

"I'm thinking it was Elias." Inferno said. "I mean, we searched that area several times before the swap, and then Krash suddenly finds the idol in the same spot after the swap?"

"Yeah. If it was Grace, she likely would have planted it before the swap and you guys would have found it." Chloe nodded. "So where does that leave us?"

"Why not just vote off Elias?" Krash shrugged. "I mean, if he WAS the one that planted the idol…"

"You're determined, aren't you?" Tempo asked.

"Getting played for a fool reminds me that I'm not smart." Krash folded his arms. "I don't like being reminded of that."

"_This whole fake idol thing is going to make things interesting. But we still don't know for sure who planted it." Chloe said. "I said that we could try calling Elias out at council, but Tempo said that he would deny it regardless, so we won't know if he's telling the truth or not."_

Meanwhile, Elias was looking a little anxious as he sat by the fire pit. Edwina saw this and came over.

"You feeling nervous about the vote?" Edwina asked.

"I'm more worried because…Well, I'm an outsider, here." Elias said hesitantly.

"Just practice making fire because it looks like there's going to be a tiebreaker anyway."

"_Elias has been looking a little nervous since the challenge, and he says it's because the others will probably vote for him." Edwina explained. "Frankly, as long as all of us practice our fire-making abilities, we should be ready for however the vote goes. And frankly, I would say that I'm probably a bigger target than he is at the moment."_

"I know you're trying to be an optimist, Edwina." Elias sighed. "I know I'm going to have to fight to survive, so that's what I'm going to do."

"Glad to hear it. Now you'd best start preparing for the tiebreaker." Edwina nodded.

"_I said that I'd have to fight to survive, and I meant it. However, I meant that if I were to get called out for that idol, I'd have to shift the blame." Elias said. "I know it's underhanded, but if I'm going to survive, the attention and suspicion needs to be off of me."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The eight members of Xon entered Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Finding a spot, everyone sat down.

"Welcome to Tribal Council, Xon Tribe. This is familiar territory for some of you, but not for others. In a moment, one of you will be voted out of the game." SSBFreak said as he started asking questions. "Tempo, it's been a while since we've seen you here. The last time you were here, Yori was voted out." He explained. "How does it feel to avoid council for so long?"

"It feels weird, especially since I lost so much in the tribe phase of my season." Tempo nodded.

"So did I, you know." Chloe reminded.

"I know, but even after the swap in our season I still went to council a fair bit." Tempo pointed out.

Chloe lifted an eyebrow. "So did I, you know." She repeated.

"Renaldo, since this is the first time you've been here since the swap, how are the tribe dynamics?" SSBFreak asked.

"Pretty good. A lot better after Kendall left, anyway." Renaldo shrugged. "At the moment, it appears to be 4-on-4, so we're pretty much split down the middle when it comes to votes."

"That brings up another question. Grace, how did you guys take seeing that both Barney and Kendall were removed from the game?"

"Kendall I could really care less about, but Barney was a bit of a surprise. I honestly didn't think he would take things too far." Grace said. "That being said, Barney was a huge threat, so him going was probably for the best for the rest of us."

Tempo stared flatly. "Don't sugarcoat it, Grace."

"Inferno, how do you think the vote's going to go tonight?"

"Well, I don't know who the others are going to vote for, but we've narrowed our choices to either Elias or Grace." Inferno replied.

This seemed to take Grace by surprise. "Wait, what? When did I come into this?" She asked.

"Krash found and idol that we've found out is a fake. One of you four planted it for us to find, and we've ruled out Edwina and Renaldo." Inferno replied.

"It wasn't me, though!"

"It certainly wasn't me, either." Elias folded his arms, eyebrow raised.

"Chloe, where do you stand on this revelation?" SSBFreak asked.

"I dunno. I mean, I could see either of them doing it. We know Elias is a sneak, but Grace was just as much a villain as he was back in her season." Chloe reminded. "There WAS that whole thing with Mugg and the fake idol…"

"Elias, what do you have to say in your defense?"

"I've long since retired from acts like that. I had nothing to do with this fake idol." Elias insisted, telling a half-truth, since it was Reginald who made the idol in the first place. "If the suspects are either Grace or myself, then I would obviously suspect Grace."

"Elias, we're supposed to be allies here!" Grace said.

"If you're trying to deny your involvement, I have no choice but to retaliate, Grace."

"Grace, how about you?" SSBFreak asked.

"Why would I try another fake idol scheme when that was what killed my game last time?" Grace asked. "I had nothing to do with it!"

Tempo whispered something to Krash, who nodded.

"Krash, it seems that you've come up with a solution." SSBFreak noted.

"We think we know who it was, and we're voting for them." Krash said.

"Okay. I think that's enough questions. It's time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Edwina, you're up."

Edwina stood up and walked out of the hut to go vote. She approached the voting table, wrote a name down and voted before walking away.

Inferno approached the table and gave a smirk. "I think we may have avoided the tiebreaker…" He mused as he voted and left the table.

Chloe walked up to the table and stepped up onto a platform so she could write. She scribbled a name down and walked back to the hut.

Elias wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "I'm hoping that my acting skills paid off here." He said, having voted for Grace.

Grace also wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "If you're trying to throw me under the bus like this, then I guess I was wrong about you." She said, having voted for Elias.

Tempo was smirking as he walked up to the table. He quickly wrote a name down without even blinked and voted before returning to council.

Renaldo scratched his head and wrote a name down. "I don't know what's going on, but I don't want any part of it." He said, having voted for Chloe.

Krash was the last to vote and wrote a name down. He had to concentrate to remember how to spell the name, but he finished voting and shoved his ballot into the urn.

Once all eight players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. Everyone remained silent, not making a move to play an idol. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Elias." Elias frowned.

"Grace." Grace remained silent.

"…Chloe." Chloe eyes widened.

"Chloe. She leads with 2." Chloe bit her lip.

"…Elias. It's 2-2-1." Elias took a deep breath.

"…Elias." Elias cursed. "Next vote and eighth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Elias. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak explained.

Elias stood up and grabbed his torch. "You made a mistake." He warned as he walked towards the host. "You'll pay for it in the end."

"Elias, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak explained as he extinguished Elias' torch. "It's time for you to go."

"It had to happen sometime…" Elias said as he walked out of council and vanished from sight.

Once Elias was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "Elias is gone, but it seems that this whole fake idol ordeal isn't quite over yet." He explained. "Only time will tell if you were right about Elias, but that'll be for another day. There are twelve remaining, and we're approaching the halfway point in the competition. Soon, we will be finding out which among you has the will and ability to make it to the end. You can all head back to camp."

The seven remaining players stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Grace brought up the rear, looking a little frustrated. She knew she was innocent, but Elias still tried to call her out on it as he left. Now there was the added problem of proving to the others that she wasn't the one to plant the fake idol.

"_I couldn't resist trying to cast a bit of doubt into their heads, but I regret that I won't be able to see if it works or not." Elias lamented. "Still, I made it pretty far when you consider my reputation. I suppose I don't have anything to be ashamed of except that I would have liked to make the merge again…"_

**Voting History:**

**Elias – Chloe, Grace, Inferno, Krash and Tempo**

**Chloe – Edwina and Renaldo**

**Grace – Elias**

Author's Notes: And there goes Elias. Back in the planning stages, Elias and Jack swapped boots. Jack originally went here and Elias was the fourth one out. When I realized I'd be having Jack last too long that way, I swapped them around and Elias lasted three episodes longer than he originally did.

However, he really doesn't have anyone to blame but himself for getting ousted like that. The instant he tried making a move when he was backed into a corner, it blew up in his face in typical Elias fashion. I feel that this would have been a lose-lose situation for Elias either way.


	9. Days 20 to 22

**(Xon Tribe)**

"_Elias was just eliminated, but that's not what bugs me. He and Grace cast blame at each other for this fake idol that Krash found when the two of them were supposed to be in this together." Edwina folded her arms. "There were fifty different ways that Tribal Council could have ended, but they just decided to go with the way that ended with friction between us."_

"Grace, what happened back there?" Edwina asked. "You were quick to blame Elias."

"What could I do? He blamed me first!" Grace insisted. "I was acting in self-defense!"

"And that act just put us into a minority." Edwina sighed. "Really, couldn't the fireworks have waited until after we got back from council? Even if Elias was the one to blame first, you could have tried to work things out with him before the vote."

"But then one of us would have gone into a tiebreaker." Renaldo explained.

"Hey, it's better than outright losing an alliance member without a second chance."

"_Edwina's trying to make me feel guilty for putting us into a minority again, but I still don't know why she's mad at me." Grace pointed out. "If I didn't try to deny my involvement with the fake idol, then the others would have voted for me and believed Elias."_

"So what do we do?" Renaldo asked.

"We're going to have to hope we can find the real idol or hope for a game changer." Grace said.

Meanwhile, the other four members of the tribe were on the other side of camp, talking about the vote.

"That was interesting." Chloe noted. "I wasn't expecting Grace to vote with us."

"She must have been determined to prove that it wasn't her, although Elias voted for her as well." Tempo noted before turning to Krash. "But I still think it was Elias that planted the idol."

"Yeah. I kinda thought that as well. You telling me back there gave me a little reassurance." Krash nodded.

"_So that's what being in charge of a vote feels like…Feels weird. Anyway, I'm glad that the vote went smoothly." Krash said. "Whoever planted the idol tried to take me for an idiot, like always, but that's something I don't want to take lying down anymore. I think we made the right choice in booting Elias."_

"So this leaves us in a pretty good spot, at least for a bit." Inferno said. "Unless, of course, the others find the real idol."

"Then we're just going to have to find it first." Tempo said.

"We've turned this place inside out LOOKING for it, though." Chloe reminded. "How the heck do we know it hasn't been FOUND yet?"

"_We've got a bit of power now because we've got the majority, but we're not out of the woods yet." Inferno explained. "We know what the idol looks like, so we need to hope we can find it first. That seems to be the ace up our sleeve that the others don't have at the moment."_

The tribe decided to go to bed, knowing that they'd have a better chance at getting answers in the morning.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 20)**

Reginald was sleeping soundly underneath a tree, taking a little bit of a break. As he slept, a familiar dark-haired woman's head poked up from the bushes a little bit away.

"The jungle queen has spotted her prey, the legendary "Irritable Screaming Lagomorph", in his natural habitat." Sandy narrated. "Soon, the jungle queen will strike."

Erica poked her head up beside Sandy. "Why do you like to torment Reginald so much, anyway?" She asked.

Sandy grinned. "Because it's just too much fun." She said as she crept out of the bush, revealing that she was holding a huge fish in her hands.

"_Watching the first season, Sandy spent a lot of time harassing Reginald, and the entire time I've been with her here, she's done the same." Erica said. "Half of me's wondering if Sandy just thinks it's amusing to make Reginald go into his Rabbid mode, but the other half thinks that she's secretly a sadist or something…"_

Sandy tiptoed over to Reginald's sleeping form and gently put the fish into his arms, then backed away.

"Oh…Oh, my dear…I've waited long for this moment…" Reginald said in his sleep. "…For you, I…I would travel to the ends of the world…"

"That's so sweet, darling." Sandy said, changing her voice. "Kiss me!"

Reginald, still sleeping, was quick to comply and wrapped his arms around the fish, kissing it. However, it was at this point that Reginald decided to wake up. Once he realized what he was doing, he jerked awake and threw the fish away.

"**DAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"**

"I never tire of that!" Sandy laughed.

"Uh…Sandy, he looks pretty mad." Erica pointed out.

_Reginald sat in front of the camera, eye twitching. "…I hate her." He said._

Meanwhile, Molly and Mel were sitting in front of the fire pit.

"…It sure is quiet today." Mel said. "Nothing really out of the ordinary happening…"

A laughing Sandy gleefully ran by behind the two, with a furious and screaming Reginald in hot pursuit, waving the huge fish around like a club. The two were gone as quick as they had come, and neither of the two seemed to notice.

"…Yeah. Nothing unusual at all." Molly nodded.

**(Xon Tribe; Day 20)**

"_I need to make sure the others know I wasn't the one to plant the fake idol. At least I have a friend on the other alliance." Grace said. "Inferno's the one most-likely to believe me, so I'll have to tell him and hope that he relays my message to the others."_

"Inferno, you believe me, right?" Grace asked.

"I admit that you probably wouldn't want to try it again after last time." Inferno shrugged. "Honestly, I think you're okay. The reason we voted out Elias is because Tempo seemed to catch onto something and suspect him."

Grace sighed. "That's a relief. I didn't want my game ruined by something I didn't do." She admitted.

"I hate reminding you of this, but you need to work on the way you handle things." Inferno pointed out. "You and Elias going at each other like that didn't seem to do you any favours with Edwina and Renaldo."

Grace eventually wandered off after she was done. Inferno turned around and walked over to the beach, where his alliance was sitting.

"So what'd she want?" Tempo asked.

"She wanted to clarify that the fake idol wasn't her idea." Inferno replied.

"_Grace is intent on clearing her name. I can tell that she doesn't want a repeat of what happened back in her season." Tempo said. "While it's understandable how she would want to do that, it doesn't really change the fact that she's on the other alliance and thus an opponent to us."_

"I thought we didn't suspect her, though." Chloe pointed out. "I mean, you suspected that Elias was the culprit during council, Tempo."

"I know, but like you said, it was a suspicion." Tempo replied.

"So now what? We play the waiting game and see what happens at the next challenge?" Krash asked.

"We've got a little extra power for now." Inferno said. "I say we keep looking for the idol, though."

"Okay, but I still say we've already searched everywhere." Chloe said.

"_Honestly, if we haven't found the idol by this point when we know what it is we're looking for, I have a feeling someone's already found it." Chloe said. "We don't know who, but we can only hope that it didn't go to someone on the other alliance. That would destroy whatever power we have at the moment."_

**(Arkos Tribe)**

"Sandy's constant tormenting of Reginald isn't going to make him want to keep her around longer than Erica." Molly noted as she watched Reginald chasing Sandy up a tree, still waving the fish around.

"You think Sandy knows that?" Mel asked.

"I doubt it."

"_The plan was to vote out Erica next because she has the element of surprise on us, but Sandy's annoying Reginald so much I can't see him wanting to vote for anyone else." Molly said. "Maybe this is Sandy's way of giving my plans the finger and forcing me to start from scratch, but I really think that'd be giving her too much credit."_

"How are you going to convince Reginald to vote for Erica now?" Mel asked.

"I'll think of a way."

"I'm not liking the chances. If Reginald doesn't vote for Erica, that makes it a 2-2-1 vote."

"You're not confident we can beat Erica in a tiebreaker?" Molly asked.

"Fire-making, sure…But not trivia."

"_We need to avoid the tiebreaker. Even in a fire-making challenge, I don't know how well we'd do." Mel explained. "And we know that if it's a trivia challenge, Erica will likely beat us, especially if it's a trivia challenge about past seasons or something."_

"Just remember that it's still going to be Erica that we're going after." Molly reminded. "Don't let the fact that she's a fan of you get in the way."

Mel looked away and bit her lip. "Um…"

"Mel, we've had this talk already!"

"I know! I know!"

Meanwhile, Reginald was still shouting at Sandy, who had managed to get herself up a tree that Reginald couldn't climb. Because of this, Reginald had taken to striking the trunk of the tree with the fish.

"Hey! That's our dinner, Reggie!" Sandy said. "Don't hit the tree with it!"

"Our dinner? You made me KISS our dinner!" Reginald shouted back. "This thing is already ruined!"

"Oh, come on. You're not THAT bad of a kisser…"

Reginald froze in mid-strike, his eyes wide in horror. "And HOW…Pray tell…Would you know that?" He asked.

"That's not the first time you've had the dream, Reggie."

Reginald's eye twitched a few times before he screamed in anguish and ran off towards the water, dropping the fish in the process.

"_Isn't paranoia GREAT?" Sandy asked with a grin._

**(Xon Tribe)**

"_Something's been bugging me. A couple of days ago, Krash made this off-handed comment that Renaldo…You know…LIKES me." Edwina said. "I mean, I always considered him a friend, and I always took the comments of us dating from others as jokes…But I need to know for sure, and I need to hear it from Renaldo."_

"Renaldo, we need to talk." Edwina said.

"Uh…Did I do something stupid?" Renaldo asked.

"No, but we still need to talk."

"About what?"

"…Look, Renaldo. I'm just going to be straight up with you." Edwina sighed. "Krash told me a couple of days ago that the reason you sacrificed yourself for me back in our season was because you liked me. Is that true?"

"Uh…Well, of COURSE I like you, Edwina." Renaldo said nervously. "I mean, we were friends back then!"

"Not like that, Renaldo. I mean…Do you LIKE me?"

"_I was really hoping it wouldn't pan out like this. Edwina coming to ME and revealing what she had heard was probably the opposite of what I wanted." Renaldo said. "I'm not even prepared to respond to it, yet! I have no idea what to say!"_

Renaldo shifted uncomfortably. "Um…This is so sudden…" He admitted. "I don't know how to answer that…"

"Just answer me truthfully!" Edwina insisted. "Tell me right now!"

"Okay, okay! I like you, alright?!" Renaldo blurted out. "The reason I stabbed myself was because I didn't want to see your hopes get crushed!"

Edwina paused, then sighed. "How long have you had a crush on me?" She asked.

"Probably shortly after we aligned back in season three! I didn't say anything because I knew there'd be no way it'd work!" Renaldo continued.

"Why not?" Edwina asked.

"Look at me! Look at what I do for a living!" Renaldo said. "I'm…I'm a hired gun! You deserve way better!" Edwina walked up to him as he continued talking. "I fight for my life every day where I live! You…You'd hate that-"

Edwina placed a hand on Renaldo's shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Shut up, Renaldo." She said as she pulled Renaldo close and kissed him. Renaldo quickly realized what was happening and went with it.

_Renaldo sat in front of the camera, Edwina's lipstick over where his mouth would be. He seemed content. "…Life's GOOD…" He said._

The tribe was happy for Renaldo when they found out that he had Edwina had finally hooked up, but by that point, the sun had gone down. Knowing there would be a challenge the following day, everyone went to bed.

**(Arkos Tribe; Day 21)**

"…Mouthwash…My kingdom…For some mouthwash…" Reginald muttered as he lay on the ground, near passed-out, by the water cooler.

"How long has he been there?" Erica asked.

"I don't know. He was there when I got up." Mel shrugged.

"Any idea why?"

"Nope."

"…Why do I feel that this is Sandy's fault?"

"I figure it's easiest to just blame Sandy regardless. It's usually her fault, anyway."

"_Reginald's been laying by the water cooler, near-comatose, all morning, muttering something about mouthwash." Erica said, scratching her head. "Something in the back of my head tells me I should blame Sandy for this somehow…"_

"We've got treemail." Molly said as she walked into camp. "And would someone PLEASE pick up Reginald before someone trips over him?"

"I'll do it!" Sandy said as she scooped up Reginald and picked him up bridal-style. Reginald slowly became aware of his surroundings, saw Sandy fluttering her eyelashes at him, screamed and leapt out of her arms.

"Stay away!" Reginald ordered. "I can issue a restraining order!"

"On a deserted island?" Sandy asked with a smirk.

_Reginald shivered, clutching himself. "I don't know if Sandy made up the part about kissing me, but I can still feel it on my tongue and I can't get the image out of my head." He said. "I'm not going to be able to get sleep for weeks now…"_

"It says to be ready for a change in the game." Molly read. "…I'm thinking it's merge time."

"At twelve?" Erica asked.

"It's happened before." Mel shrugged.

"_We had a merge at twelve back in season one, and that felt a little weird considering how quick it took us to make the merge then." Mel noted. "If we DO have the merge now, I'm going to need to keep my guard up, because I was eliminated last time for being a big threat…"_

**(Xon Tribe; Day 21)**

Tempo watched as Edwina and Renaldo were talking and laughing by the fire pit, sitting close together. "Wow. This turned out better than I thought."

"I know. I always thought they were cute together." Chloe nodded.

"Actually, I was thinking that those two getting together seems to have finally broke Edwina out of her strategy mode."

"_After spending so long talking about nothing but strategy for the game, Edwina's suddenly a normal girl now that she's got more than the game to think about." Tempo said. "At the very least, it takes away her being a threat to the game."_

"Come on, man. Be happy for them." Inferno said.

"I am. I just think that it's convenient that Edwina isn't thinking about the game anymore." Tempo shrugged.

"Sounds like you're the same if you're still just thinking about the game." Inferno smirked. "Don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Of course I do! But she's not here, is she?" Tempo asked.

"_Tempo says that it's good that Edwina isn't talking about the game, but he needs to start listening to himself." Inferno said, forming a small smirk. "Honestly, I hate the strategy talk myself. I'd like to go a couple of days without having to hear any of it."_

"Looks like we've got treemail." Grace announced as she came into camp.

"Oh, goody! Time for a challenge!" Krash said. "I hope it's a Reward…"

"Yeah. We could use something good…" Chloe nodded.

"It's wondering if we're ready for a change in the game." Grace said.

"Another swap?" Krash asked. "Or…Is it the merge?"

"Probably the merge." Tempo nodded with a grin. "Fantastic. If it is, then we've made a milestone."

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Grace instructed. "We don't know for sure."

"_I've seen this show before and I know that they've had fake merges a couple of times, only to throw in a couple more eliminations before the actual merge." Grace said, arms folded. "The way the treemail was worded makes me a little suspicious…"_

"_The merge, huh? I wonder what that feels like…" Krash mused. "Never had one before."_

**(Reward Challenge?)**

The Arkos Tribe stood on their mat in a clearing, waiting for the Xon Tribe to show up.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the Xon Tribe." SSBFreak said as the Xon Tribe stepped into view. People saw who was absent as the Xon Tribe approached their mat. "Elias was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Reginald looked a little frustrated. "So much for that." He said.

"Before we continue, I must congratulate you all on making it to the halfway point in the competition. You have outlasted eight other players, and I think it's high time we started kicking things into gear." SSBFreak said.

Mel grinned. "It's time for the merge?" She asked.

"Right you are, Mel. You twelve have officially made the merge." SSBFreak nodded as the group cheered. "First things first: I need you all to hand over your buffs so that I can give you your new ones."

The twelve players handed over their buffs as new ones were passed out. These ones were orange.

"As usual, the tribes are now dissolved and it's now a free-for-all for the remainder of the contest. As such, you will be playing for Individual Immunity." SSBFreak said. "In addition, we will be moving you to a brand new camp, and all of the previously-won Rewards will be relocated there."

By this point, everyone had been given a new buff. "One last thing I should tell you is that there is one more Immunity Idol, and it is hidden at this new camp." SSBFreak explained. "I'll see you all tomorrow for the first Immunity Challenge, where you'll tell me the name of your new tribe, but for now, you can head to your new camp."

**(New Tribe)**

"_Awesome! I made the merge this time! Last time I was so close and I ended up getting cut just before the merge, and I actually made it here!" Chloe cheered. "That's a real milestone for me, so now I'm going to try and win it all!"_

"Looks like this is it." Grace announced as she led everyone into the new camp.

The twelve looked around at the camp they had arrived in. The camp was huge and spacious, in the middle of a clearing by the ocean. There was a large lake connected to the ocean by a stream, and a path that went up to a cliff. Trees were everywhere and the camp had branching paths around several of them.

Chloe's eyes lit up in excitement when she saw a waterfall at the top of the cliff. "A waterfall! Yes! We got a waterfall!" She cheered. "I've been wanting to jump off one since we started!"

"Chloe, wait! We need to get things set up first!" Tempo said as he ran after the excited panda girl.

"_I wasn't expecting Chloe to just go for the waterfall like that. She mentioned that she had one back in her season, but I didn't think she'd miss having one this badly." Grace noted. "Seriously, Tempo had to pry her away from the clifftop so we could focus on getting the new camp set up."_

"I think this place here will be a good spot for the shelter." Reginald noted as he pointed to an open area at the base of the lake.

"Sounds good, but we're going to need to work harder." Inferno said. "With both Barney and Gary out of the game and everything."

"I know. You think you can help with building the shelter, Krash?" Reginald asked.

Krash gave a shrug. "I don't see why not."

"The rest of us can build a large fire pit." Edwina said. "I can see a lot of good stones we can use down there by the water."

"_It'll be good to have a big fire pit. I mean, the one we put together when there was ten of us was too small, so now that we have twelve, we need to make it bigger anyway." Edwina shrugged. "It's not like we had a shortage of stones, anyway. We may as well put them to good use…"_

Sandy suddenly jumped into view and latched onto Krash, wrapping her arms and legs around him in a death grip. "My BFF! You're still here!" She said. "Oh, how I've missed the antics we had back on Arkos!"

"Uh…Yeah. Sure." Krash coughed, trying to catch his breath.

"Come on! Let's go name the tribe!"

"Uh…I'd like to, but I kinda promised that I'd help build the shelter."

"_Krash can go build the shelter if he wants. I already have the perfect name for the tribe." Sandy grinned. "One that fits the awesomeness of the tribe perfectly."_

Molly walked over to Reginald the instant she saw him alone. "Looks like Elias failed." She noted. "We're losing numbers."

"I know. The other Arkos alliance still has all four members, but at least the Xon power alliance is down to only two people." Reginald noted.

"_I've lost both Gary and Elias at this point, and I'm not counting on Molly to stick by my side for very long." Reginald explained. "I'm basically by myself, and if I'm going to survive, I'm going to need to act fast. I'll need to start looking for the Merge Idol pretty soon…"_

"Just keep in mind that, out of the two of us, you'll be needing help more." Molly smirked.

"What makes you say that, Little-Miss-Wolf-In-Sheep's-Clothing?" Reginald asked flatly.

"Because since they know who I am, I'm not a threat." Molly replied. "You, on the other hand, are a big mental threat and I'm sure everyone knows that."

Reginald sighed. "You've got a point there."

"_Maybe this could work out. I could stick with Reginald for a bit and lead him on because he'll think he needs me to survive." Molly said. "That being said, I'll probably get rid of him after a few rounds, but it'll be good to use him as a shield for a bit."_

Inferno tied some pieces of lumber together, strengthening the wall of the shelter he, Tempo and Krash were building. "You guys think this'll be sturdy enough?" He asked.

"It'll be fine when we get the roof onto it." Tempo replied.

Sandy came over, looking bored. "You guys need any help?" She asked. "Naming the tribe didn't take as long as I thought it would."

"Sure, you can…" Tempo said before pausing. "Wait. You named the tribe?"

"Yeah. Wanna come look?" Sandy asked with a grin.

"_Man. That's the second year in a row the tribe's been named without me giving any input." Tempo sighed, folding his arms._

The tribe was gathered in front of the orange flag, which had the chosen name written on it. The name that Sandy had written was "N.P.Z.R.".

"That…That doesn't even spell anything, Sandy." Erica pointed out.

"Of course it doesn't. It's abbreviated." Sandy replied.

"And…What's it stand for?" Renaldo asked.

"Something so awesome that you guys won't believe it." Sandy said. "I'll tell you guys what it stands for tomorrow."

"_Knowing Sandy, it's probably some nonsensical jibberish that she thought up in ten seconds." Erica said with a shrug._

Night eventually rolled in once the shelter had been completed. The newly-christened N.P.Z.R. Tribe decided to go the bed to prepare for the first Individual Immunity challenge the following day.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 22)**

Mel stood in front of the new tribe's sign, staring at what Sandy had written. "…Any idea of what it stands for?" She asked Molly.

"None whatsoever, but knowing that lunatic, it could mean anything." Molly shook her head.

"_So we've got an abbreviated name for a tribe, and none of us know what it's supposed to stand for." Mel scratched her head. "We can only hope that Sandy didn't name it something profane, but I doubt it's anything terrible if it's from Sandy. It's likely just something that doesn't make any sense."_

Chloe was wading in the water when she saw Tempo approaching with treemail. "Oh! Time for the first merged challenge?" She asked.

"You're right on that, Chloe." Tempo nodded as everyone gathered around. "It's wondering how well we can keep our balance."

"ANOTHER balance challenge?" Chloe asked.

"How many can they do in one season?" Renaldo asked.

"May as well just go with it, right?" Edwina asked.

"I suppose so, but it's still weird. I mean, how are they supposed to keep the challenge fresh if they keep re-using it all the time?"

Edwina chuckled. "You're cute when you're genre savvy."

"Uh…What?"

"_I've never heard that term before…What the heck does that even mean? I guess it's a good thing if the person saying it to you gives it as a compliment…" Renaldo shrugged. "Still, why are they doing so many balancing challenges in one season? Methinks they're running out of ideas."_

Reginald pulled Krash aside as the tribe was getting ready to move out to the challenge. "You've been here for a while, Krash." He explained. "What's up with the two shorter season three players?"

"Who?" Krash asked.

Reginald sighed. "Edwina and Renaldo." He replied. "They seem to be in an alliance."

"More than that, Reginald. They've hooked up." Krash said. "Pretty recently, actually."

"Oh, really?" Reginald asked. "Well, I guess their behavior isn't out of the ordinary, then."

"Yeah…" Krash said before chuckling. "They remind you of Rob and Amber, don't they?"

"…I'm sorry, what?"

"_It's funny how similar the couples are. I mean, Rob and Amber met on an All Stars season of Survivor, hooked up and became a power couple, right?" Krash laughed. "Isn't that what Edwina and Renaldo are doing?"_

_Reginald sat in front of the camera, looking like he had just realized something. "…I need to separate those two…" He noted._

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The twelve merged players emerged from the jungle and onto the beach. They saw their mat sitting on the ground, so they went over and stepped on to start the challenge.

"Welcome to your first challenge as a merged tribe, everyone. Here, we will be testing your balance and endurance." SSBFreak explained. Everyone saw twelve poles sitting out in the water. "This challenge is a familiar one and the object remains the same: Stay on your pole the longest. The challenge will keep going until everyone else drops out, leaving one person left, and that person remaining at the end will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

SSBFreak turned to the contestants. "If you'll all come with me and take your places, we can begin." He explained.

**(Later…)**

The twelve contestants stood out on their poles in the water, some looking focused while others wavered a bit to gain some balance.

"We have now officially started the challenge." SSBFreak said. "I will periodically try to entice some of you to drop out with food, but we'll get to that in a bit. Molly, I forgot to ask: What's the name of the tribe that you guys decided on?"

"Ask Sandy. She's the one that named it and she hasn't told us yet." Molly said.

"…Okay. Sandy, same question."

"It's named the 'Ninja-Pirate-Zombie-Robot Tribe'." Sandy replied. "But you can just call it the N.P.Z.R. Tribe."

"…What?" SSBFreak asked.

"WHAT." Reginald said flatly. "Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot?!"

"You can't get any more epic than that!"

SSBFreak was silent for a few seconds. "On that note, I have an offer for you." He said. "For the first three people to drop out, they will each get a large hamburger with whatever fixings they want. Also note that these are quality hamburgers and are thus very juicy. As I said, this offer is for up to three people."

"That sounds too good to pass up." Renaldo said as he jumped into the water.

"Dibs." Molly said as she followed Renaldo into the water.

"Yeah. That's my cue." Inferno said as he jumped.

"Renaldo, Molly and Inferno are out. Come to the docks and grab your reward." SSBFreak explained. "As for the rest of you, you'll just have to hold out and hope you can last until my next offer."

**(Later…)**

"Okay. You've all been up there for fifteen minutes now." SSBFreak said. "It's time to-"

Before SSBFreak could continue, Krash lost his footing and toppled backwards into the water with a surprised outcry.

"…And Krash just misses out on the next offer." SSBFreak said. "Anyway, the next three people to drop out will get a large bowl of ice cream each. Like the burgers, you can top it up with whatever you like out of the selection we've got back here."

Edwina paused, then decided to jump in. "That sounds good."

Erica jumped in afterwards. "Wait up!"

"I'll take the offer." Mel said as she jumped down.

"Edwina, Erica and Mel are out. This leaves Chloe, Grace, Reginald, Sandy and Tempo remaining." SSBFreak explained. "If no one else is going to drop, I'll check back with you in a few minutes…"

"Take your time!" Sandy called out.

**(Later…)**

"…I'm bored…" Sandy muttered.

"No one cares." Reginald replied flatly.

"You still mad about the name of the tribe?" Sandy asked. "That was so long ago."

"It was half an hour ago!" Reginald shot back.

"Reginald's right. You five have been up there for half an hour." SSBFreak explained. "And so, I've got another offer for you. For the next two people to drop, I have a large pizza for each of you, made however you want."

"That's good enough for me." Chloe said as she jumped.

"That offer's what I've been waiting for!" Sandy said as she cannonballed into the water.

"Chloe and Sandy are out. This leaves us with three." SSBFreak explained. "How are you all feeling?"

"I'm fine. I can keep my balance." Grace said.

"I'm still perfectly fine." Reginald said.

"Me too." Tempo added.

"Very well. I'll come back in a bit with my last offer."

**(Later…)**

"Okay. It's been forty-five minutes and you three are still standing. It's time I gave my last offer, and it's only good for one of you." SSBFreak explained. "For the person to drop, they will get a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol that's been hidden at the camp."

"I'm calling dibs." Grace said as she jumped into the water before either of the others could act.

"Grace is out."

"I'm surprised that you didn't jump at the chance for a clue." Tempo noted.

"I was actually waiting for her to jump." Reginald said. "I'd like to propose a deal. I'll jump now, but you and your alliance needs to vote for either Edwina or Renaldo tonight."

"Why?" Tempo asked quietly.

"Because they hooked up and have the potential to become a power couple. You should know how effective those things are in this game."

Tempo was silent. "You've got a point." He nodded. "Okay. I'll relay the info to my alliance later. You've got a deal."

"Good to hear." Reginald said as he stepped backwards and fell from his pole, landing in the water.

"Reginald is down! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak explained. "Tempo wins Immunity!"

"Alright! Sweet!" Tempo said as he jumped into the water.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Tempo. You have a one-in-eleven chance at winning the game." SSBFreak explained as he handed Tempo the Immunity Necklace.

"Thanks." Tempo said as he put the necklace on.

SSBFreak turned to the others. "Tempo is safe tonight, but I'll be seeing you all at Tribal Council, where someone will be voted out as the first post-merge casualty." He explained. "I'll leave it up to you to decide who that will be and I'll see you tonight, but for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"You want to target Edwina and Renaldo?" Mel asked, slightly surprised. "Where'd THIS come from?"

"Krash told me that they hooked up, and that means they have the potential to become a power couple." Reginald explained. "They were already close, but now that they're together, there's no way they'll vote against each other now."

"He's got a point." Molly shrugged.

"_I'll admit I wasn't expecting Reginald to come forth with this idea, but it makes sense. We need to at least split up the couple before they get power." Molly said. "Everyone knows how it went down with Rob and Amber, anyway."_

"What if one of them plays an idol?" Mel asked.

"That's why we're splitting the votes. I already told Tempo about it and he'd talk to his alliance." Reginald explained.

"You're not taking any chances, are you?" Mel lifted an eyebrow.

"I was eliminated by an idol last time, in case you forgot." Reginald pointed out.

Mel paused. "…Oh, yeah."

"_Reginald appears to still remember how he went out last time, so I guess I can't fault him for not wanting to take chances." Mel shrugged. "Still, if he isn't careful, he could play himself out of the game if he keeps this up."_

Renaldo paced by the fire pit as Edwina practiced making fire. "I'm a little nervous, Edwina." He admitted.

"You're always nervous, Renaldo." Edwina replied with a chuckle.

"Edwina, I've heard our names come up. I think they may be trying to target us."

"Why do you think I'm practicing making fire?" Edwina asked.

"What if they gang up on us though?"

"We're going to have to hope we can convince them to vote for Molly during council."

"_We know that we're probably getting some votes for whatever reasons, but if we can convince people that Molly's a better choice to boot, we may be able to sway some people." Edwina explained. "I know it's a long shot, but considering we don't have an idol, we're going to need whatever we can take."_

"_We need to hope for a tiebreaker, because I don't see how we can get the majority on words alone." Renaldo sighed._

**(Tribal Council)**

The twelve merged players walked into council, carrying their torches. Everyone found a spot and sat down, waiting for the council to commence.

"Welcome to your first merged Tribal Council, N.P.Z.R. Tribe. In a moment, you will be voting one of your own out of the game as the first post-merge casualty. Most of you know will remember how this feels." SSBFreak said before he started asking questions. "Let me just clear the room and ask the obvious. Sandy, why 'Ninja-Pirate-Zombie-Robot'?"

Sandy blinked. "Why NOT?" She asked simply.

"Because it's probably the stupidest name I can possibly think of." Reginald said flatly. "What were you THINKING?"

"Hey, I just thought up four of the most-epic things I could think of and put them together to make the ultimate tribe name." Sandy shrugged. "If you ask me, you just can't get any more-epic."

"Chloe, this is a first for you because you didn't make the merge last time." SSBFreak noted. "How did it feel to reach the merge?"

"Awesome. Making the merge is a huge milestone and I LOVE the new camp." Chloe said with a grin. "Plus, you gave us a waterfall again! I missed that from last season."

"We figured you'd like that." SSBFreak nodded as he turned to another person. "Inferno, you, on the other hand, have been here before and know what it's like. How's it feel to go through it again?"

"The experience itself is nice, but I don't like the nerve-wracking tension." Inferno admitted. "There are only two boots I don't like: The first boot, and the first post-merge boot."

"Any particular reason why?"

"Because no one knows who's safe and who isn't." Inferno shrugged.

"Edwina, how do you think this vote's going to go tonight?"

"Renaldo and I have heard our names come up for reasons we still don't get." Edwina folded her arms. "The two of us are going to vote for Molly and we hope that others will join us."

"Thanks for revealing who your target is." Molly said flatly.

"It's the only way to get a point across here." Edwina reminded. "I mean, who's the bigger threat? The notorious villain or the pessimist?"

"It's more than that, Edwina." Reginald said.

"What do you mean, Reginald?"

"Edwina and Renaldo recently got together and that makes them a big threat as a whole." Reginald replied. "Edwina says that they aren't threats, but I beg to differ. The fact that they're together only strengthens this fact."

"Don't pick on us just because we're together, man." Renaldo said.

"I'm not. I'm just stating a fact."

"Tempo, what's your take on this turn of events?"

"You take what you get and try to make the best of things." Tempo replied. "I mean, I'm unsure of this, but you have to do what to have to do."

"Krash, same question. What's your take on this idea?"

Krash scratched his head. "I dunno. The whole thing was Reginald's idea." He shrugged. "I'm just going with it."

"Okay. I think that's enough questions. Before we continue, I have to ask; Tempo, you have Immunity. Will you be giving it up?"

"No. I'm keeping it."

"With that, Tempo is safe and cannot be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak explained. "Erica, you're up."

Erica got up and walked out of the hut to go vote. She walked over to the voting table and scribbled a name down with a sigh before voting and walking back.

Sandy walked up to the table and wrote a name down, whistling a tune. The dark-haired woman placed the ballot into the urn and strolled back.

Molly wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "Just returning the favour, kid." She said, having voted for Edwina.

Reginald looked cross as he wrote a name down. "I didn't expect to be called out like that." He admitted as he voted and walked back to the hut.

Edwina wrote a name down and turned it, revealing Molly's name. "I hope I was able to sway some people." She said.

Krash walked up to the table and wrote a name down, looking like he was struggling. When he finally did, he voted and returned to the hut.

Renaldo sighed and wrote a name down. "I hope this works." He said as he placed his ballot into the urn and walked away.

Tempo scribbled a name down and sowed it to the camera. "We need to split the votes." He explained, having voted for Renaldo.

Chloe walked up to the table and wrote a name down, decided to vote before she could second-guess herself.

Grace bit her lip as she wrote a name down. She paused for a moment before sighing, voting and walking away.

Mel approached the table and silently wrote a name down. Tapping her fingers on the table a couple of times, Mel voted and walked back.

Inferno, the last to vote, quickly wrote a name down, took a deep breath and voted before returning to the hut silently.

Once all twelve players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. No one made a sound, signifying that if there was an idol in play, no one was using it. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Renaldo." Renaldo took a deep breath.

"Molly." Molly narrowed her eyes.

"Renaldo. He leads with two." Renaldo started sweating.

"…Edwina." Edwina remained silent.

"…Molly." Molly looked annoyed.

"Renaldo. It's 3-2-1." Renaldo gulped.

"Edwina." Edwina looked nervous.

"Renaldo." Renaldo gave a sigh.

"…Edwina. It's 4-3-2 now." Edwina sighed as well.

"Edwina. It's tied at 4-4-2." Edwina and Renaldo exchanged glances.

"…Edwina." Edwina looked surprised. "Last vote, first member of the jury and ninth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Edwina. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Edwina sighed as she stood up. "That's okay. I guess I shouldn't be surprised." She said as she walked up to the host, leaving a depressed Renaldo behind.

"Edwina, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak explained as he extinguished Edwina's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"It's been fun." Edwina said as she walked out of Tribal Council.

Once Edwina was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "Edwina is officially our first jury member and will be voting for one of you in the end. However, it would be pretty lonely at Ponderosa if she was there by herself." SSBFreak said.

Mel's eyes widened. "We're having another challenge?!" She asked.

"Yep. Time for another Immunity Challenge."

"_I didn't make it as far as I did last time, but then again, I kinda figured my days were numbered." Edwina said. "I mean, it'd be real hard to make it to the end again, but at least I made the merge and jury. I can't be disappointed with that."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The eleven players were handed cards and pens, remaining in their seats. Blinds were put up around them, preventing them from seeing anyone else.

"For this Immunity Challenge, we'll be having a trivia challenge. I'll ask a question and you give me either a True or False answer. Whoever gets it wrong will be out of the challenge and the last person remaining will win Immunity." SSBFreak said. "So, without further ado, here's the first question…"

"…True or False; The only known way to actually get to the North Pole safely is by submarine."

The contestants wrote down their answers and showed them, revealing that there was a split decision, but a majority of people choosing one answer.

"The answer is true, although many a person has tried to get to the North Pole on foot." SSBfreak nodded. "Chloe, Krash and Erica are out."

"Here's the next question…True or False; When cutting into meat in the wild, a knife needs to be sterilized."

Again, the contestants put up their answers, showing a varied response.

"The answer is false. The only thing a knife NEEDS to be sterilized for is for medical use." SSBFreak explained. "Molly, Mel and Grace are out."

"Trick question, I guess." Grace sighed.

This left Inferno, Reginald, Renaldo, Sandy and Tempo. "Here's the next question…True or False; The reason for Japan's earthquakes lies with its distance from the shores."

The contestants thought about it for a moment before giving their answers. Again, the answers were varied.

"The answer is false. The reason for Japan's earthquakes is that Japan sits over a bed of active, underwater volcanoes." SSBFreak explained. "Renaldo, Sandy and Reginald are out."

Renaldo seemed downtrodden. "So close…" He lamented.

"Okay. There are only two people left; Inferno and Tempo. The first one to give an incorrect answer will lose." SSBFreak explained. "Here's the next question…True or False; In some countries, black flies are known to cause malaria."

The final two wrote their answers down and showed them to the host. Inferno had written False, while Tempo had written True.

"The answer…Is False. The correct insect is the mosquito." SSBFreak explained. "With that, Inferno wins Immunity!"

Inferno sighed in relief. "That's a big load off…" He said.

SSBFreak handed the Immunity Necklace to Inferno. "Inferno now has a one-in-ten chance at winning the game, and without giving you any time to strategize, it's time to vote again." He explained. "Erica, you're up again."

Erica got up and left to vote for a second time. The goth girl remained silent as she wrote a name down and voted.

Sandy was smiling. "Two-for-one, eh?" She mused as she voted, turned around and walked back.

Molly wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "Looks like you're joining your girlfriend quicker than we thought." She said, having voted for Renaldo.

Reginald couldn't help but smirk at his good fortune and wrote a name down. The rabbid voted and left the table without a word.

Krash had an easier time writing the name this time due to having already written it. The kremling put the ballot into the urn and walked back.

Renaldo sighed as he wrote a name down. "I'm screwed and I know it's pretty hopeless." He said, showing that he had voted for Molly.

Tempo seemed to think about something for a second, but quickly dismissed the thoughts and voted before leaving the table.

Chloe scribbled a name down. "This should be simple." She said as she voted and walked away without another word.

Grace didn't look as upset now as she wrote a name down. "I guess it's for the best." She shrugged as she voted.

Mel walked up to the table and wrote a name down. Placing the ballot into the jar, Mel turned and walked away.

Inferno was again the last to vote. He scribbled a name down, voted and walked away silently like most of the others.

Once all eleven players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn again and returned with it after a bit. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. Again, no one spoke up about any idols. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Renaldo." Renaldo didn't make a move.

"Renaldo." Again, no movement.

"…Molly." Molly folded her arms, unfazed.

"Renaldo. It's 3-1." Renaldo sighed.

"Renaldo." Renaldo seemed accepting of his fate.

"…Renaldo." That seemed to do it, as Renaldo had already stood up. "Next vote, second member of the jury and tenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Renaldo. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

"Way ahead of you." Renaldo said as he was already bringing his torch to the host.

"Renaldo, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Renaldo's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"Good luck, guys." Renaldo said as he left Tribal Council and didn't look back.

Once Renaldo had gone, SSBFreak turned to the survivors. "And so ends our first Tribal Council post-merge, ending with two members of the jury in one blow. This just goes to show that anything can be a factor to being a target; Even things that don't pertain to the game." SSBFreak said. "There are ten of you left, and the competition is halfway done. The challenges will get harder and the competition will get tougher, but I'm sure you all know that. You can all head back to camp."

The ten remaining players stood up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. Grace brought up the rear, looking slightly guilty. She had sold out two earlier allies because they had become big threats, but now she was looking like she was unsure about her decision. Yes, they were threats, but would they have taken control of the game?

"_I'm bummed that the reason for my elimination was simply because I hooked up with Edwina. Makes you feel real secure about yourself, doesn't it?" Renaldo asked. "Still, I made the merge this time, and I'll be spending time at Ponderosa with Edwina, so I'm glad that this is done and over with…"_

**Voting History 1:**

**Edwina – Erica, Grace, Inferno, Mel, Molly and Reginald**

**Renaldo – Chloe, Krash, Sandy and Tempo**

**Molly – Edwina and Renaldo**

**Voting History 2:**

**Renaldo – Chloe, Erica, Grace, Inferno, Krash, Mel, Molly, Reginald, Sandy and Tempo**

**Molly – Renaldo**

Author's Notes: And so, just after hooking up, both Edwina and Renaldo are out of the game back-to-back in a surprise double-boot.

I knew Edwina wouldn't be lasting as long this time, but I still enjoyed writing for her. The original superfan in her made her a big threat and it carried over to the moves she made in the game, and I wanted the only thing she was completely oblivious to was her own teammate's feelings. I wanted to get rid of her after she and Renaldo hooked up to prevent them from becoming the Survivor Power Couple (which they had the potential of becoming).

I really liked writing for Renaldo this time. His snarky, pessimistic attitude and backstory made him one of my favourites to write for, but like Edwina, he was always doomed to go out around here for the same reasons as her: They had the potential to become a power couple. The only reason I had Renaldo outlast Edwina by a hair was because he was the pre-merge boot last time and I felt bad for him.

**(Ponderosa)**

A limo drove up a long driveway, towards a large building on a hill. Pulling up to the front door, the doors to the limo opened and out stepped two people, the first members of the jury.

"So this is Ponderosa?" Renaldo asked.

"Yeah. From what I saw of it last time, it was amazing." Edwina nodded.

"_After the regret of being voted out left, I found myself looking forward to spending the rest of the game at Ponderosa." Edwina said. "Last time, I was only there for one day because I made the finals, and now I'll be spending a couple of weeks here."_

The couple walked into Ponderosa and looked around at the huge house, and up at the second floor where all the rooms were. They saw a living area that was opened up to be accessible from anywhere, consisting of a couch, some chairs and a TV set. The kitchen was nearby, showing a large amount of food spread out on the counter.

"You want to explore the rest of Ponderosa now or wait until we finish eating?" Edwina asked.

"How about we grab something to eat and look around at the same time?" Renaldo asked. "We can come back for more food when we're done."

"_I'm glad in a way that both of us were ousted at once; It probably would have gotten pretty lonely if it was just one of us here for a few days." Renaldo pointed out. "It sucks that we had our stay in the game cut short, but at least it isn't lonely."_

Renaldo opened up a door on the first floor, leading to the games room. He saw a pool table, a dart board and a games table for cards. He also saw a bolt-on table-top to turn the pool table into a ping-pong table should anyone want to change games.

"Well, there isn't a shortage of things to do." Renaldo shrugged. "That'll keep people busy, at least."

Edwina, in the meantime, had opened the door to the bathroom. She saw a large shower stall and three sinks in a row. Edwina saw that this bathroom was for ladies, meaning that there was a similar one for the men in the house nearby.

"That's handy. I think they did a remodeling since the last time I was here." Edwina noted.

"_It's been a while, but Ponderosa's mostly the same for the majority. I can tell that there's been a few changes to the place since season three, but everything's still in the same place." Edwina said. "Which is good because I didn't really have much of a chance to explore it last time."_

"Hey, Edwina! Look at this!" Renaldo said as he walked out onto the back deck outside, showing a large seating area under an awning and a large swimming pool.

"Oh, wow! I didn't even know they had a pool!" Edwina said. "It'll be fun to use that when some more people come around."

"_Yeah, Ponderosa's great, and it sure beats sweating it out in the jungle. I guess it's nice to have a little rest and relaxation after playing the game." Renaldo said. "I didn't really get much rest last time because I spent a lot of time recovering from a stab wound."_

Later on, Edwina and Renaldo sat on the couch in the living area, eating food and watching TV.

Edwina took a bite of pizza. "I'm still not sure how you're able to eat without a mouth." She noted.

"I've got a mouth. You just can't see it." Renaldo replied as he bit into a hamburger.

Edwina shrugged, deciding to drop it. "Man. I've missed having food like this." She said.

"I know. There's only so far rice and Chloe's caught fish will take us." Renaldo nodded.

"…So, Renaldo? Why do you think they targeted us like that?" Edwina asked.

"I don't know. I mean, it's not like us getting together made us THAT big of targets, right?" Renaldo asked.

"No. I don't think so." Edwina shook her head. "I guess we'll just have to ask people when they start coming here."

"_Our eliminations came out of the blue. Up until that point, we hadn't really even been considered for targets." Edwina explained. "It's confusing how simply getting together with someone could make you a target, but I'm guessing that we won't get any real answers until Reginald is eliminated because it was apparently his idea."_

"How about we check around for rooms after we finish here?" Edwina asked. "We'll need to get some sleep pretty soon."

"Sounds good."

The two walked upstairs to look at the available rooms and see what they liked. A couple of rooms had two beds and some had three, but all of the rooms were large and spacious enough for whoever would be staying in them.

Edwina opened up the door to another room and looked in. "Renaldo, how about we take this one?" She asked.

"Wait. We? We're sharing a room?" Renaldo asked.

"Of course. Just take a look."

Renaldo looked into the room and paused. There was only one bed in the room, but it was large and looked like it could hold at least three people.

"Uh…We're sharing a bed?" Renaldo asked.

"Why not?" Edwina asked with a warm smile. "Come on. Let's get settled in."

"Uh…Edwina, I know we just got together, but I'm not sure if I feel…Y'know…COMFORTABLE about this…" Renaldo fidgeted as Edwina walked over to the large bed and climbed onto it. "I mean, think about it. I mean, I…Uh…I like you, for sure…But I just don't know if it's right to force this upon you…I mean…We need to think of what'll happen and…Uh…I don't want you doing this unless you…Um…"

"Renaldo?"

"Yeah?"

Something was thrown at Renaldo, causing him to instinctively catch it. Renaldo froze when he saw it was Edwina's tank-top.

"Shut up and get in the bed."

Renaldo paused for a few awkward seconds before quickly obliging.


	10. Days 23 to 25

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_Well, I don't think that could have gone any better. The plan was to simply separate the couple before they could take power and, lo and behold, we get a surprise second council to help us eliminate both at the same time." Reginald smirked. "Now that Edwina and Renaldo are both out, I can start focusing on who else are big targets."_

"Well, now that we eliminated those two, what's our next means of attack?" Molly asked.

"Who's the strongest one left? Maybe we can go after a physical threat." Reginald noted as he walked along the beach.

"That would be Krash, and I wouldn't consider him a threat." Molly shook her head. "Our best bet for the moment would be to focus on the big power alliances."

"Like the one of four from Arkos?"

"Yeah. Tempo's got extensive knowledge of the game, so I'd say that makes him a priority."

"_Guys like Tempo are just asking to get a blindside. They know too much about all of us and Tempo's pretty strong to boot." Molly said. "The instant he doesn't have Immunity, we need to get rid of him and be done with it so the game can move on."_

Meanwhile, the alliance in question was sitting around the fire pit, exchanging glances.

"So…Who's idea was it to vote out the couple, again?" Chloe asked.

"Reginald came to me with the plan during the challenge. I told you guys." Tempo shrugged.

"…No. Where'd HE get the idea?" Chloe asked. "Don't you find it weird how he knew to target them for being threats when he's never actually BEEN on a tribe with them?"

Tempo paused. "I…Never thought about that."

"_When Tempo came up to me and said that Reginald had this idea, something bugged me about it." Chloe shrugged. "I mean, not that it really matters since we all survive the vote, but doesn't this seem a little odd?"_

"Reginald didn't go to you about anything, did he, Sandy?" Tempo asked.

"I dunno. He spends a lot of time away from me." Sandy shrugged. "Personally, I still think he's a spy for the sand weavals."

Chloe blinked and looked at Tempo. "That was a dumb question." She said.

"Right. Sorry." Tempo sighed before looking at Krash. "How about you, Krash?"

"Well, I remember Reginald asking me about them, and I mentioned how similar they were to Rob and Amber, what with them hooking up on All Stars." Krash said. "You guys think it's a funny coincidence, right?"

Tempo blinked a few times. "…Wait a minute. The whole vote was technically YOUR idea?" He asked.

"Uh…No. I just mentioned how funny the similarities were." Krash shrugged.

"_I don't believe it. Reginald's idea to vote out Edwina and Renaldo ended up coming from KRASH?" Tempo asked. "Even if Krash didn't mean to have things end that way, it's still really weird. I mean, I know he was the one to want to vote out Elias, but I didn't think things would continue after that…"_

The tribe of ten decided to go to bed and prepare for tomorrow. Even if there wasn't a challenge, they knew it was going to be a long day.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 23)**

"_Our new camp has a waterfall, something I've really missed and something I want to make use of while we're here." Chloe explained with a grin. "And now I've got a bunch of fun-loving people to share the experience with, so that makes it even more fun to use!"_

"WOOHOO!" Chloe shouted as she jumped off the waterfall and landed in the lake below. She popped her head back up again. "Come on, guys! It's fun!" Chloe called out to the top of the waterfall.

Mel nervously inched towards the edge of the clifftop. "I'm not so sure about this." She said.

Krash shrugged and walked past her. "It's just something that you let gravity take care of." He replied before leaping off the waterfall.

"How is this not bugging you guys?!" Mel asked. "We must be at least-"

That was all Mel could get out before Sandy grabbed her from behind and held her high above her head.

"BANZAI!" Sandy screamed as she leapt off the cliff, still holding onto a screaming Mel as the two plummeted into the lake.

_Her wet hair covering her eyes, Sandy cheered. "Chloe was right! Blindly jumping off waterfalls is awesome!" She said. "Maybe I should take it up as a hobby when I get back home! Or maybe base-jumping!"_

_A soaking-wet Mel sat in front of the camera and cleaned her glasses off with her shirt. "Is it wrong of me to wish that Sandy should have done that to someone else?" She asked. "ANYONE else?"_

"Looks like Chloe's having a ball." Inferno noted as he walked over to Tempo, who was standing by the shore, looking around. "What are you looking for, man?"

"The host said a new Immunity Idol was hidden at the merge camp." Tempo replied. "I'm going to see if I can find it."

"Do you even know what the thing looks like?"

"Uh…No."

"_Here's the dilemma I'm facing. I know what the pre-merge idols look like, but what does the merge idol look like?" Tempo asked. "I don't know if it's just a rock like the others or if it's something completely different because it's after the merge now."_

"We're going to need to decide on a target next before the others decide to target us." Inferno explained. "The two of us are two of the strongest left, and that makes us targets."

Tempo paused his search. "Who would you suggest we go after?" He asked.

"Honestly, I would suggest Molly or Reginald."

"_Watching the past seasons, I know that people like Molly and Reginald could take control of the game if we let them." Inferno said. "The last thing we want is to take them late into the game, thinking we can win against them, and then get blindsided. We'll need to get rid of them before they can do the same to us."_

Inferno decided to wander off on his own and let Tempo search for the idol. However, once Inferno was far enough away, Erica emerged into view and looked up at him.

"He's looking for the idol, too?" Erica asked.

"Yeah. We'll need to step up our search." Inferno said. "Where do you think it's hidden?"

Erica looked out at where the others were jumping off the waterfall. "Probably in the middle of the lake." She said.

"_I know I've been wanting to enjoy the game, but I also want to last as long as I can, and since our original alliance of four is down to just Inferno and I at the moment, we'll need that idol more than ever." Erica sighed. "I mean, if the other power alliance finds it, what's stopping them from taking us out with it?"_

"So what do we do?" Erica asked. "If it IS in the water, there's a chance the others will find it."

"So go into the water with them and let loose a little." Inferno smirked. "Join in the fun, if you will, and then you can look for the idol then."

"What about you?"

"I'm a grown man. I'd just look suspicious."

Erica stared at Inferno, with his blue hair and polyester suit, flatly. "Sure. Grown man. Right."

"_I'm not used to socializing because I AM a goth, but I'll make an exception since I can hang out with my favourite players." Erica shrugged. "Plus, we need the idol."_

Meanwhile, Krash was climbing out of the water, cleaning out his ear. Grace saw him from afar and went over to him. "Krash, can…Can we talk for a minute?" She asked.

"Sure thing." Krash said. "What's up?"

"Reginald said that you were the one to give him the idea of voting out Edwina and Renaldo." Grace said.

"Why does everyone say that?" Krash asked. "All I did was give a comparison between them and a real life couple that hooked up on the show!"

"_When Reginald told me about where he got the idea from, I was a little suspicious about Krash…Like if he's really not as dumb as we all think he is." Grace said. "Krash SAYS that it was a coincidence and he really didn't have anything to do with how the vote went, but I still have my doubts."_

"_I don't DO strategy! My mind can't comprehend things backstabs and secret alliances! Why would I want to draw attention to myself in leading the vote against the couple?" Krash asked. "I mean, I'm no rocket-scientist, that much is obvious, but even I know that would only make people hate me!"_

"Why are you people so intent on prodding me, anyway?" Krash asked. "I just want to enjoy myself."

"Krash, in this game, you need to remember that it's a game about survival." Grace replied. "Anyone knows that in order to survive out here, you need to rely on your strategic abilities."

"Oh sure, because it's so OBVIOUS that if we actually WERE stranded on a desert island, the first thing we'd do is try to kill each other." Krash said flatly. "This is a GAME. The point of games is to have fun, isn't it?"

Grace paused for a moment, trying to wrap her head around Krash's words. "Um…"

"Grace, I'm not a strategist. I leave that to my superior officers. Unless someone does me wrong, I don't see any reason to want to go after them the way Reginald went after the couple."

Grace suddenly felt a tapping on her shoulder. Grace turned and saw that she was staring into Sandy's grinning face. Grace screamed as she backpedaled away from the lunatic.

"Krash, can you tell your friend to-" Grace said as she turned around to look at Krash, only to see that he had already walked off to the top of the cliff again.

"That's what you get for annoying my BFF!" Sandy said brightly. "Now then, tell me what you know about the sand weavals!"

Grace was silent. "Actually, this raises a question of my own." She said. "Sandy, don't you mean 'sand WEEVILS'?"

Sandy tilted her head. "Huh? Whaddya talking about?" She asked.

"There IS such a thing as a weevil. Are you SURE you're not confused?" Grace asked.

Sandy narrowed her eyes. "No. No, I'm not." She said. "Sand weavals are what those inferior, so-called 'weevils' WANT to be when they grow up."

"_Grace thinks she can actually COMPARE those tame weevils to the maniacal threat that are the sand weavals? She's more misguided than I thought." Sandy mused. "That tells me that she has nothing to offer on my quest against the sand weavals if she's so in the dark, so I'm back to square one."_

"_You TRY to set someone straight, and it just seems to make things worse." Grace sighed._

Molly watched as a soaking-wet Mel stepped out of the water and wrung her shirt out. "Have fun?" She asked with a smirk.

"How was I supposed to know Sandy would just grab me and jump?" Mel asked.

"Really, you have no one to blame but yourself for not seeing it coming." Molly shook her head.

Mel sat down on a rock. "I guess so." She sighed.

"Look, Reginald and I talked it out last night and we think it's best to go after Tempo next." Molly explained. "His extensive knowledge of us will make him tough to beat."

Mel was silent for a few seconds. "You're probably right about that." She reasoned. "And it'd take the power alliance's numbers down."

"_Mel may be someone I plan to backstab, but she's still in my alliance…For now, of course. I need to tell her about any plans I have to get us further into the game." Molly explained. "I need to tell her because Mel's shown that she can be just as crafty as me when she really wants to and I'd prefer to stay on her good side to remain unsuspicious."_

"So how do you propose we get the numbers?" Mel asked.

"Well, there's the two of us and Reginald. Add Erica and Inferno and we've got five on five." Molly said.

"What if Erica and Inferno don't want to switch?"

"They're the ones we'll need to put the most of our focus on." Molly explained. "We need to sway their votes to even have a chance at surviving."

"And then what about a tiebreaker?" Mel asked. "I really don't see how we'll get the alliance to turn on itself."

"Hope to heck that the tiebreaker isn't a trivia challenge."

Night eventually rolled in. Knowing that a challenge would be happening tomorrow, the merged tribe of ten went to bed to prepare for it.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 24)**

"Why don't you wanna put your all into the challenge?" Chloe asked.

"Because it's going to be Reward." Tempo said. "We're going to have a few more since we've merged and I want to save my energy for the Immunity Challenges."

"And…What if the reward is a clue to the hidden Immunity Idol?"

"Uh…I never thought of that…"

"_I get that you want to try your hardest at the Immunity Challenges, but what if the reward up for grabs is something too good to pass up?" Chloe asked with a shrug. "I mean, if the reward's a big meal, you KNOW I'll be all over the challenge."_

"Okay. If the Reward's a clue to the idol, which I kinda doubt, then I'll be trying to win." Tempo said. "In addition, if you win any rewards, I think it may be best to take someone from another alliance."

"Gets rid of some people looking for the idol?"

"Right."

"_There are only ten of us left and there are still two idols left in play. Sandy has one of them, but if we can get the other one, we'll have an even-bigger advantage." Tempo said. "I mean, the four of us are still here and that's bound to make us targets."_

"Hey, guys! We've got treemail!" Sandy said as she ran into camp.

"So what's it say?" Erica asked.

"It's wondering if we're any good at driving a go-kart blindfolded while an infested monkey is picking lice off our head." Sandy replied.

Mel blinked. "Seriously?"

"Nah. I'm just kidding." Sandy laughed. "It's wondering if we're ready for a game of luck."

Mel sighed. "I walked right into that one."

"I'm thinking it's a Reward Challenge." Molly said. "I'd say we're due."

"Totally not disagreeing with you on that one." Inferno nodded.

_Inferno lifted his shades slightly. "Who decided to let Sandy read the treemail, anyway?" He asked._

"_When I get bored, I tend to just say what's on my mind, and what's on my mind usually turns out to be non-sequitur gibberish that doesn't really have a meaning." Sandy shrugged. "Like…I really wish I had a tap-dancing badger with male-pattern baldness playing a polka on a tiny accordion right now. See? Complete non-sequitur!"_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The ten remaining players emerged from the jungle and into a large clearing. Seeing their tribe mat on the ground, everyone walked over and stepped on to start the challenge.

"Welcome to your first Reward Challenge as a merged tribe, N.P.Z.R. Tribe. Here, we will be having a game of pure luck to see how well you fare without any of your skills." SSBFreak said. Everyone suddenly became aware of the huge field of chests behind the host. "There are two-hundred chests in this field. I will give each of you a key, and your mission is to find the ONE chest in this field that the keys open. Keep in mind that all of the keys open the same chest, so there is literally only one chest in this entire field that can open. Whoever opens up the chest will win Reward, which is a big meal at a resort location on the island."

The ten finalists were handed keys as they looked at the huge field of chests uneasily, knowing that it was coming down to luck.

"Okay. For Reward, Survivors ready?..." SSBFreak said. "..Go!"

The ten players instantly ran out into the field of chests, although Tempo brought up the rear, not looking like he was trying. Molly was the first to try opening a chest, only to find that her key wouldn't even go into the lock.

"You seriously expect the right chest to the first available one?" Mel asked as she ran past. "I'm thinking the right one's closer to the back of the field."

"We all have to start somewhere." Molly muttered.

Krash started at a row of chests that no one was at and started working his way across, checking each chest as he went. Needless to say, he was getting nowhere fast. "Man. How many chests are in a row?" He asked himself. "It'll take me forever just to get through this row."

Reginald went to work, blocking out everything around him. He knew that it would be impossible to know if someone had already checked a chest, so he decided to just go systematically and hope that he came across the right chest soon.

"I don't get how they expect us to find ONE chest in a sea of two-hundred so quickly." Reginald muttered to himself.

"Everyone's off to a good start and seems intent on winning the challenge." SSBFreak nodded before looking at Tempo, who was casually strolling between chests. "…Except Tempo, that is. Any reason why you appear to be throwing the challenge, Tempo?"

"Let me know when the reward is a clue to the Hidden Immunity Idol and I'll start playing." Tempo replied as he walked to the next chest.

SSBFreak stared flatly, but decided to ignore it. "Everyone else seems to be having similar strategies, simply going in a line of chests until they find one that opens." He explained. "However, none of them know where the chest is."

Chloe sighed as she pulled her key from the lock of another chest. "This'll take forever." She lamented. "There's no way we can finish this without luck."

"That was probably the point of the challenge." Erica said from the row above Chloe. "He wants us to see how long it takes us to find a needle in a haystack."

"But we've all seen how long challenges like those can go on for!"

Inferno reached the end of the row he was currently searching and was forced to move to another row. He glanced around to see if there was a row nearby that no one else had touched yet before moving on. "Let's try this one up here." He noted.

"Any luck?" Krash asked as he moved past.

"We wouldn't still be here if any of us had any luck." Inferno shook his head.

"Oh…Right." Krash said as he moved on.

Sandy checked another lock and moaned when it wouldn't open the chest. "This challenge is so BORING." She whined. "Seriously, when are we gonna get some excitement?"

"You can't always get what you want, Sandy." Reginald said as he checked another chest.

"Well, I'm done, then. This challenge is dumb." Sandy pouted as she walked off. "I'm gonna go climb a tree. Someone come and get me when we're done."

"And…It looks like Sandy's dropped out of the challenge." SSBFreak blinked.

"What did you expect? She's got the attention span of a caffeine-injected six year-old." Reginald rolled his eyes.

The remaining players continued to search the field of chests for the one that would open for their keys. Obviously, no one was having any luck.

Molly growled. "This is getting frustrating." She said. "How much longer are we supposed to put up with this?"

"As long as it takes, Molly." SSBFreak shrugged.

Molly sighed and went back to work, trying to open up another chest.

Mel glanced around as she tried to open another chest, trying to see where everyone else was. She had gotten to the end of another row and still hadn't found the right chest. "Which rows are okay to look through?" She asked herself. "I've lost track!"

Grace was doing the same thing as Mel, but appeared to have a better understanding of where people had checked. "Okay. I don't think anyone's checked this row, yet." She noted as she started a new row and started trying to unlock the chests.

Inferno and Krash were unknowingly searching the same row, and didn't even realize it until they were right beside each other.

"Dude! This is MY row!" Inferno said.

"It don't have your name on it." Krash pointed out.

"How did you end up on my row, anyway? I saw you starting to search a different row." Inferno asked.

"Yours felt luckier. Looks like I was wrong." Krash said as he wandered off, leaving Inferno dumbfounded.

Erica and Chloe continued to search their rows, without much luck. Chloe had already started another row while Erica was just finishing her latest one before deciding to move on.

"Not in this row, either." Erica noted as she moved up a couple of rows, passing the row that Chloe was working on.

Chloe tried to unlock another chest, only to see that her key wasn't even fitting into the slot. "This isn't going to work." She said flatly as she moved onto the next one, getting similar results.

Erica continued to work her way through the new row, hoping that it was a row no one had touched yet. Sticking her key into another lock, Erica could only hope for luck.

Twisting the key, Erica heard a clicking sound. Her eyes widening, Erica turned the lock and opened it.

"No way!" Erica said as she threw open the lid of the chest she had just unlocked. "I did it!"

"So she has! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak said. "Erica wins Reward!"

"Alright!" Erica cheered.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Erica. You have won the trip to the tropical location of the island and the large meal awaits you." SSBFreak said. "However, since it'd be pretty lonely for you out there by yourself, we're letting you take TWO extra people with you."

"Two?" Erica asked as she looked at the others. She saw Inferno shaking his head, signifying that he didn't want to go. Erica nodded back. "Um…Mel and Sandy."

Mel seemed surprised, but shrugged. "Thanks." She said as she and Sandy approached Erica.

"Erica, Mel and Sandy will be leaving and rejoin the rest of you at the Immunity Challenge tomorrow." SSBFreak explained. "For now, you can all head back to camp."

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_Erica won the Reward Challenge, which is good for her, but I discouraged her from taking me along since I wanna find the idol." Inferno said. "The plus side of this is that Erica took two people from different alliances, so that frees up the searching a little bit."_

Inferno looked through some bushes, trying to find anything that looked like what he was searching for. "Man. This'd be so much easier if I knew what the idol was supposed to look like." He muttered.

Not finding the idol in the bushes, Inferno looked around and saw that no one was in the water. "Hmm…Erica said that the idol could be in the middle of the lake." He said. "May as well see if it is."

From the top of the cliff, Tempo watched Inferno wade into the water and go under, suddenly realizing what he was doing. "Crap! He's looking for the idol!" Tempo said. "We never even THOUGHT of looking in the water!"

"_Man! When considering the possibility of the idol being in the water, we only thought the beach!" Tempo said. "What if it's actually in the lake, a place most of the tribe's been in since we merged?!"_

"Ohhhh…" Krash said in thought. "Wow. Wouldn't that be weird? We spend so much time searching for the idol everywhere else in camp and it turns out to be right in the middle of camp the entire time?"

"Krash, come on and help me!" Tempo said as he grabbed Krash by the arm and ran headlong off the cliff, jumping into the lake.

Chloe, in the meantime, sat back and relaxed. "Well, looks like I got the place to myself for a bit." She said.

Reginald watched the scuffle in the water from afar and lifted an eyebrow. "Hmm…I wonder if the idol IS in the water…" He said.

"I doubt it." Grace said as she came over. "Honestly, when you figure the amount of times people have jumped into the lake since we merged, I think that someone would have found it by accident."

"You've got a point there." Reginald nodded before he looked around. "You know where Molly went? I haven't seen much of her in a bit…"

"It's Molly. She's probably up to no good." Grace sighed.

"_I'm questioning the logic of keeping people like Reginald and Molly around for so long since they're the ones that can turn the game around in their favour if given the chance." Grace sighed. "The only reason I'm sticking with them for the moment is because I need the numbers against the big alliance of four."_

Molly, in the meantime, was indeed up to no good. She was sitting by herself, carefully crafting something together.

"Hopefully, the merge idol looks different than the pre-merge ones." Molly mused as she cobbled a fake Immunity Idol together. "There's no way those idiots will fall for this otherwise…"

"_A fake idol is a good way to keep people from searching for the real one. I'm running with the hope that we're looking for a different idol in order for this to work." Molly said. "It's annoying having a bunch of people breathing down your neck while you're looking for the idol."_

**(Tropical Location)**

"_Erica won the reward and surprised us by taking me along for the ride, as well as Sandy. I wasn't expecting to be brought along on a trip like this by someone I hardly knew." Mel said. "I mean, I know Erica's a fan of me, but still…"_

"Wow! Look at this place!" Erica said as the three girls walked into an open hut area, on a small cliff that had a great view of the ocean. "The view is incredible!"

"Look, there's the table." Sandy said, pointing out a large table near the window. "Who's hungry?!"

The three sat down as their meal was brought out, showing a large selection of items and more than enough for all three of them to eat their fill. As the three were eating, Mel looked at Erica.

"Erica, I was wondering why you decided to bring us along with you." Mel said. "I mean, you're aligned with Inferno, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but he didn't want to come with me." Erica said.

Mel sighed. "Looks like he's intent on finding the idol." She said. "Makes sense."

"_I decided on taking Mel and Sandy because I'm a fan of them. Simple as that." Erica said. "Sandy's fun to hang around with and Mel's someone I was cheering for the entire time when I watched the first season."_

"Besides, I chose you guys because I like you two. You two are some of my favourite players ever and I wanted to take the chance to relax with you guys. Maybe get to know you a little better." Erica shrugged.

"That works for me." Sandy said, talking with her mouth full. "There's nothing I like better than bonding with some kindred spirits after a day of wanton destruction and clown-maiming."

Mel blinked. "Clown-maiming?"

"Admit it, you wanna join in." Sandy accused. "NO ONE likes clowns."

"_There are two things in this world that terrify me almost as much as the sand weavals: Clowns and mimes." Sandy said. "I think the world would be a better place if people would just activate their Maimtron 9000's and trigger them to only attack clowns and mimes."_

"Is there anyone else you would have taken with you, Erica?" Mel asked.

"I'm not sure. I mean, I already know Tempo and Chloe from my season, and I don't really trust Molly and Reginald." Erica said. "Grace is okay, I guess, but I think her mind's usually not in the same place as her heart."

Sandy was silent. "Boy, there's a visual." She said. "Now I can't stop thinking about nitro glycerin."

"I feel better with you guys, though. I know I can trust you." Erica smiled.

Mel gave a weak and nervous smile, and sighed as soon as Erica turned away.

_Mel sat in front of the confessional, wiping her eyes. "…I can't do this…Not to such a fan of mine…I can't go through with Molly's idea…" She sniffed. "Erica…She's too nice…I can't do this to her…W-What have I done?!"_

Night eventually rolled in. Knowing that there would be an important Immunity Challenge the following day, the ten players went to bed.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 25)**

Molly looked around to make sure no one was watching as she looked for a spot to plant her fake idol for someone to find.

"I need to play this smart. I can't put it in a spot everyone's already looked." Molly muttered to herself.

"What are you up to, Molly?" Grace asked as she came over.

Gears turned in Molly's head before giving a reply. "I made a fake idol. I'm planting it for the big alliance of four to find." She replied.

"Molly, that's not a good idea!" Grace insisted. "That's EXACTLY how Elias sunk himself!"

"_Molly tells me that she's trying a fake idol plan to blindside the big alliance, but I know that they won't fall for that." Grace said. "Elias tried that himself not very long ago and that ended in his elimination."_

"Just let me do this." Molly said. "The only reason I told you is because the rest of us need to join forces to take the alliance out."

"Molly, this isn't how to do things the right way!" Grace said as Molly planted the idol.

"Oh, sure. Because you know how to be a better villain than me." Molly rolled her eyes as she walked off, her job done.

Grace sighed and decided to make herself scarce, not wanting to associate with the fake idol. Not long after the two had gone, Krash came over, looking around the area for the idol.

"Hmm…I wonder where it could be…" Krash said.

Krash dug around in the bushes a little bit and quickly found the idol that Molly had planted. "Oh! Is this…" He said as he pulled the idol into the open.

Krash inspected the wooden idol for a few seconds as his smile faded. His eyes narrowing, Krash silently clenched his fist, crushing the idol in his hand and breaking it into pieces.

"…_That's the second time…The SECOND TIME…Someone's tried to use a fake idol on me. Why are people intent on making me look like an idiot?!" Krash demanded. "Come on! I can tell when an idol is poorly made and even though we don't know what the merge idol looks like, I know it'd at LEAST be a half-decent build!"_

"Hey, guys! We've got treemail!" Chloe announced as she came into camp.

"Time for another Immunity Challenge." Reginald said. "What's it say?"

"It's wondering how well we know each other."

"Didn't we already HAVE a challenge like that?" Grace asked.

"Probably, but this one's obviously different." Reginald shrugged.

"_It's obvious that, at this point, they're running out of challenge ideas so they just decide to reuse some of the basic challenge elements to make something new." Reginald said. "Not that it matters to me in this case. So long as it doesn't involve strength, we can keep the physical threats from winning."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The seven players from camp emerged from the jungle and onto another clearing. Seeing the orange mat on the ground, everyone walked over and stepped on.

"Before we begin, let's bring back Erica, Mel and Sandy, who are returning from their Reward." SSBFreak said as the three girls in question walked into view from the side and joined the others on the mat.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, N.P.Z.R. Tribe. Here, we will be finding out your opinions on the people you share a camp with." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw a long table behind the host. "I'll asked generalized questions with two answers to choose from pertaining to the members of your tribe. There are no correct answers, but the minority answers for each question will be eliminated until there is only one person left, who will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

"If you'll all come over here, we can begin."

Everyone walked over to the table and stood behind a sectioned-off area, seeing that they each had two buttons available, A and B.

"Okay. For Immunity, here's the first question." SSBFreak said. "Who is harder to sleep with? A. Inferno or B. Sandy?"

The contestants inputted their answers pretty quickly. When it came down to it, there was a clear majority of people that had picked A.

"Inferno is the majority answer. Inferno, Krash and Chloe are out."

"Seriously?" Inferno asked.

"Your snoring is loud and annoying." Mel said.

"Wait…I snore?" Inferno asked aloud as he followed Krash and Chloe away from the table.

"Here's the second question." SSBFreak said. "Who would you say is less-trustworthy? A. Molly or B. Reginald?"

The remaining seven players inputted their answers, although Reginald paused for a moment before pressing a button. When the answers came up, it was shown to be 5-2 in favour of B.

"Reginald is the majority answer. Tempo and Erica are out."

"You chose yourself?" Mel asked Reginald.

"Considering the players and how Molly's got nothing to hide, I figured that people trust her more." Reginald replied as Tempo and Erica walked off.

"Here's the next question. Who would you prefer to hang out with on a weekend? A. Erica or B. Krash."

The contestants punched in their answers as they were shown. A had the majority, but it was just by one.

"Erica is the majority answer. Molly and Sandy are both out." SSBFreak said.

"No way I wasn't gonna say my BFF!" Sandy said as she wandered off with Molly. This left Grace, Mel and Reginald playing as the three eyed each other uneasily.

"Here's the next question." SSBFreak said. "Who would you trust a big secret to? A. Chloe or B. Grace?"

The final three inputted their answers rather quickly. When all three had shown their answers, it was revealed that Reginald was the only one with a B.

"Chloe is the majority answer." SSBFreak said. "Reginald, you're out."

"I was expecting Grace to vote for herself." Reginald sighed as he walked off.

"Next time, don't assume." Grace smirked.

"Okay. Grace and Mel are the only ones left, so it's time to move onto a different type of question to determine the winner." SSBFreak said. "Normally, these challenges would end in a numerical question, but we've decided to simply have a True or False question with an actual answer, A for True and B for False. The first person to get a question wrong will lose the challenge."

The two girls seemed ready for the questions.

"Here's the first one: True or False, a blowfish must be prepared properly before consuming."

The girls didn't even need to think and inputted their answers, both showing A's.

"It is indeed true, since a blowfish must be prepared properly in order to get rid of the poison. You both got it right." SSBFreak said. "Okay. Here's the next one: True or false, all types of dogs and cats shed."

The two girls inputted their answers again, this time taking a little longer to think and coming up with B's.

"The answer is false, since there are indeed some breeds that don't shed at all. Again, you both got it right." SSBFreak said. "Here's the next question: True or false, the island of Australia is scientifically known as an 'elongated' island."

Grace and Mel paused for a moment and put in their answers. This time, the answers were different, as Grace had a B and Mel had an A.

"The answer…Is true. Australia is indeed known as an elongated island." SSBFreak said. "And with that, the challenge is over! Mel wins Immunity!"

Mel sighed in relief and wiped her forehead. "That was a little too close…" She said.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Mel. You have a one-in-nine shot at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he handed Mel the Immunity Necklace.

"Thanks." Mel nodded.

SSBFreak turned to the others. "Mel is safe tonight, but I'll be seeing all ten of you at Tribal Council regardless, where you'll be voting someone else out of the game." He explained. "Keep in mind that the competition is slowly nearing completion, so it's time to start making choices. I'll give you the rest of the day to decide, but for now, you can head back to camp."

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_Mel won Immunity, which would normally mean that we'd be trying to pitch an idea to get someone voted out." Chloe said. "However, after the challenge, Mel came up to us and pitched an idea herself, even though SHE'S the one who's immune!"_

"You want to vote out Molly?" Tempo asked. "I thought you two were in an alliance."

"That may be, but she's been trying to get me to do something I'm not proud of." Mel sighed.

Sandy grimaced. "That's SICK!"

"Not as sick as you for making that connection to begin with." Tempo said flatly before turning back to Mel. "How do we know you're telling the truth about this, though?"

"You don't. You…Just have to trust me on this." Mel explained.

"_I know people may consider me a threat, but if there's one thing I'm not, it's a maniacal schemer." Mel sighed. "I need to take Molly out now before she can use me to get any further in the game, because if she gets too far, no one will be able to get rid of her."_

"What do we have to lose, Tempo?" Chloe asked as Mel walked off.

"Nothing, except that if Mel's leading us on, the others can easily gang up on us, outnumber us and blindside us." Tempo replied flatly.

Krash blinked. "That doesn't SOUND like nothing."

Meanwhile, Molly was off talking to Grace and Reginald, relaying her part of the plan.

"We need to blindside Tempo." Molly explained. "Not only is he a physical threat, but he's done a lot of research."

"You've got a point, and taking him out would significantly weaken the opposing alliance." Reginald nodded. "You think we can get the numbers?"

"I have Mel, so we'd just need to try and sway Erica and Inferno." Molly said.

"_We can swing the vote to 6-4 in our favour if we can get Erica and Inferno on our side. Erica may be harder to sway since she and Tempo know each other better, but I think Inferno will vote strategically." Molly shrugged. "And if we can blindside them, Sandy won't get the chance to use her idol on Tempo, or maybe she'll waste it on Krash."_

"It needs to work in order for us to keep ourselves from getting eliminated one after the other." Grace said. "And we don't have a lot of time before council."

"We may have to try pleading our cases at council itself." Molly explained. "That way, it won't give the opposing alliance time to retaliate."

"That may be our best bet." Reginald shrugged.

"_We're going to have a lot riding on this going into council. If one of us goes, we can pretty much kiss the chances of any of us winning goodbye." Reginald said. "We can only hope that things work in our favour, because we're going in without an idol."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The ten players walked into Tribal Council, carrying torches. Finding a spot on one of the ten seats provided, everyone sat down and waited to begin.

"Before we continue, let's bring out the current members of the jury." SSBFreak said. "Edwina and Renaldo, both of whom were voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Edwina and Renaldo walked into the hut and went over to the jury bench. People saw that Edwina was wearing a pink tank-top that showed her midriff and a pair of jeans. She was also wearing a different pair of headphones, as these ones were star-shaped and yellow. Renaldo, on the other hand, was wearing a light jacket and a pair of shades over invisible eyes, as well as a new haircut. The two walked over to the bench and sat down.

"Edwina and Renaldo are only here to observe the outcome of the council. You are not to address them and they will not address you." SSBFreak said as he started asking questions. "Grace, now that we've been merged for a little bit, how is life at camp?"

"Not bad for the most part, but we're feeling severely outnumbered." Grace replied.

"How so?"

"The original Arkos Alliance is still four strong." Grace replied.

"What's that supposed to mean, Grace?" Tempo asked.

"Tempo, you guys can easily outnumber us if we let you." Grace responded. "I think that much is obvious."

"Anything to say in response, Tempo?" SSBFreak asked.

"We may be four strong, but we're still only four people in a group of ten." Tempo reminded. "How exactly is that a threat?"

"Tempo, don't try to turn this around on us." Grace said.

"I'm not. I just don't get how we could be considered a threat when we're outnumbered like we are." Tempo smirked.

"Moving on, Reginald. Care to elaborate on why you guys decided to eliminate Edwina and Renaldo last time?" SSBFreak asked.

"They had hooked up, and we all know what tends to happen to power couples that hook up on Survivor." Reginald said.

"They…Get featured in tabloid magazines and are accused various scandals that are too outrageous to have happened in the first place?" Sandy asked.

"No, you idiot! They go on to become the final two!"

"Well, at least he's honest." Edwina folded her arms.

"Yeah. We know why they voted us out, anyway." Renaldo said.

"Mel, you won Immunity tonight, but did you need it?" SSBFreak asked.

"I don't think so. The way people were talking, it sounds like others are the targets tonight." Mel replied. "That being said, I think all of us would be thankful to have Immunity at this point because it's really just some added assurance."

"Molly, how do you think the vote's going to go?" SSBFreak asked.

"I'll be frank. We're voting against someone in the Arkos Alliance." Molly replied. "Tempo says that they're not a threat, but they WILL become a threat if you leave them alone for too long."

"That reminds me. We need a better-sounding alliance name." Sandy scratched her head.

"We HAD a name?" Krash asked, an eyebrow lifted.

"I just assumed that 'Arkos Alliance' was it." Chloe shrugged.

"Inferno, where do you sit on the vote?" The host asked.

"It's a hard call. On one hand, we can eliminate a future threat and break up an alliance, or we can get rid of a current threat that could be harder to beat later." Inferno replied. "Really, I'm not sure how we're going to vote."

"I urge you to vote strategically, Inferno." Reginald pointed out. "As soon as the alliance gets too numerous, they'll pick us off."

"Or he could leave you guys in the game and risk getting blindsided earlier." Chloe shot back.

"That's enough questions. Before I continue, I have to ask." SSBFreak said. "Mel, you have Immunity. Are you keeping it?"

"Yes, I am."

"With that, Mel is immune and can't be voted out. It's now time to vote. Erica, you're up."

Erica got up and left the hut to go vote. The green-haired goth wrote a name down on the ballot and placed it into the urn before walking away.

Sandy quickly scribbled a name down, taking the time to decorate the votes with smiley faces and flowers before going back to the hut.

Molly wrote a name down and revealed her ballot, showing Tempo's name. "Tempo, consider this a compliment. You're way too big of a threat." She said as she voted and walked away.

Reginald sighed as he wrote a name down. "Nothing to do but hope that our pitching worked." He said as he voted and walked away.

Chloe approached the table and silently wrote a name down. "Man. We REALLY need an official alliance name." She said as she voted and walked back.

Mel quickly and quietly wrote a name down. "You brought this on yourself." She sighed as she voted and left as quick as she had come.

Grace walked up to the table and quickly wrote a name down. Without second-guessing herself, she voted and walked back to the hut.

Tempo wrote a name down and revealed it. "I hope Mel wasn't playing all of us." He said, showing that he had voted for Molly.

Krash walked up to the table and scribbled a name down. Hoping that it was enough, Krash voted and returned to the hut.

Inferno was the last to vote. He formed a small smirk as he wrote a name down, and was quick to put his ballot into the urn when he was done before returning to the hut.

Once all ten players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. Once again, no one made the move to play an idol. "It's now time to vote…"

"…First vote; Molly." Molly narrowed her eyes.

"…Tempo." Tempo bit his lip.

"Tempo. He leads 2-1." Tempo remained silent, fidgeting.

"Tempo. It's 3-1." Tempo held his breath.

"…Molly." Molly glanced around.

"Molly. It's tied at 3." Molly lifted an eyebrow.

"…Molly." Molly's eyes widened.

"Molly. It's now 5-3 for Molly." Molly wondered how this was possibly happening. "…Next vote, third member of the jury and eleventh person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Molly. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Molly growled, stood up and snatched her torch. "You're all idiots! I wasn't a threat and you all just threw away your game!" She snarled as she approached the host. "You all suck!"

"Molly, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Molly's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"See if I vote for any of you idiots!" Molly shouted as she left Tribal Council in a huff.

When Molly was gone, SSBFreak turned to face the survivors. "And so ends another council, with one of our most-notorious players taking the fall. Nine of you are left, but we've still got a ways to go before we're done." He explained. "We're fast-approaching the last-third of the competition, so the game will soon be taking off fast. You can all head back to camp."

The nine remaining players stood, up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. Mel followed everyone else out, looking pleased with herself. Putting herself into a tight spot or not, blindsiding the person she had regretted working with from the start was incredibly satisfying, and now Mel could play the game she felt that she wanted.

"_I'm shocked and angry, but I guess that's to be expected. How was I considered a threat when I literally have no secrets left to hide?! It doesn't make any sense!" Molly said. "As far as who I'm voting for, I don't know. I think I'd much rather just go to the Loser's Lodge and forget about voting at all!"_

**Voting History:**

**Molly – Chloe, Erica, Inferno, Krash, Mel, Sandy and Tempo**

**Tempo – Grace, Molly and Reginald**

Author's Notes: And so Molly is eliminated, lasting longer than a notorious villain like her probably would have. Most of you thought Molly would be an early boot because her facade was up and she was playing as herself, but I've always considered Molly a great villain even without the facade. This helped her survive the few votes that she went to before her elimination.

Molly was one of my favourites to write for, but I wanted to be careful when writing for her. I know she has a lot of fans, so I didn't want to make her insufferable. I wanted to show that, even when playing as herself, she could still make the moves. I hope that you're all pleasantly surprised that Molly lasted as long as she did, though. Unfortunately, she hadn't counted on Mel flipping on her so soon.

**(Ponderosa)**

The limo drove up the long driveway leading to the large jury house, this time in the rain. The limo pulled up to the front door as the back door opened, revealing a black umbrella, which opened up before the occupant of the limo stepped out, revealing a familiar pink minjo.

Molly walked forward a couple of feet before slipping on the wet, stone surface and landing flat on her face.

"Watch your step, Molly. The rain's making it slippery." The driver of the limo said as he drove off.

"Drop dead!" Molly shouted after the retreating limo as she pulled herself to her feet.

"_So…Yeah. I was just ousted from the game for a second time, which really threw me for a loop considering I was nowhere near the threat I was before." Molly said defiantly. "Why would they vote me out over the bigger threats like Erica and Tempo? It makes no sense!"_

Molly opened the door to the jury house and shook her umbrella off. "Anyone home?" She asked aloud, not expecting a response.

"Over here." Edwina called out from the living area, where she and Renaldo were watching something on TV. "I have to say that I was just as surprised at the boot as you were, Molly."

"THANK you. Someone with common sense." Molly rolled her eyes as she walked over to the kitchen for some food.

"Yeah. We were honestly expecting the others to burn you with a fake idol again." Renaldo added. Molly cast a glare at Renaldo, swearing that he was smirking despite not having a visible mouth.

"_It's good seeing the big villain get what's coming to them, and Molly's elimination was just as satisfying to watch in person as it was watching season two." Edwina smirked. "It may not have been as sweet as before due to the lack of a fake idol, but it was still an enjoyable blindside."_

"So what're you watching?" Molly asked as she walked over to a chair and sat down.

"Some B-list slasher film." Edwina said. "It's mindless, but Renaldo seems to like it."

Something caught Molly's eye on the screen. "Wait…One of the civilians there…Is that Elias?" She asked.

"Yeah. This is one of his earlier films since he's younger and without the dumb mustache." Edwina pointed out. Suddenly, some sickening noises were heard from the screen, including several sounds involving a chainsaw and a man screaming. Molly and Edwina winced, but Renaldo seemed unaffected.

"Aaaaand he lasted about thirty seconds that time before biting it." Renaldo said. "Totally unrealistic rendition of a decapitation, by the way."

"You're a sick man." Molly shook her head.

"_Hey, I may be a pessimist, but I'm also used to intense acts of violence." Renaldo rubbed the back of his head. "When you see the amount of ways you can dismember a guy where I come from, you tend to analyze film deaths and compare them to real life."_

"I've always been curious, Molly." Renaldo said. "How did your last Ponderosa end the first time you were ousted?"

Molly sighed and rolled her eyes again. "Not good. Once they realized I had played the lot of them, Jack, Roscoe and Mason didn't want anything to do with me. Not that I care; they're a bunch of idiots, anyway." She responded. "Oiler I hated with a passion, though. He'd always find ways to use those stupid detachable limbs to play pranks on me. You know how freaky it is to find a decapitated head in the fridge?!"

Renaldo shrugged. "Just another Tuesday. Sanford calls the one we keep in the fridge 'Fred." He said.

"…As I've said, you're a sick man." Molly said flatly.

"You guys keep a head in your fridge?" Edwina asked, a little weirded out.

"I don't know the details. Sanford's the one who brought it home, and I don't like to question the guy with the dismembering-hook-on-a-rope for a weapon." Renaldo said.

"…_The more I listen to that dope's stories, the more I realize that he probably really ISN'T making this stuff up." Molly blinked._

"So…Mind telling me what the sleeping arrangements are?" Molly asked.

"You're free to take whatever room you want, Molly. Renaldo and I took the room with the big bed." Edwina said.

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me." Molly said. "I don't feel like bunking with anyone, so I'll be taking a solo room."

"That's fine with us. Just don't bother us and we promise we won't bother you." Edwina said.

"You're more-trustworthy than the louts from my season, so I'll trust you for now." Molly nodded.

Later that night, Molly was curled up in bed, trying to get to sleep. The keyword is 'trying', since Molly was having a hard time trying to get to sleep over the loud thumps and blaringly-sensual moans coming from Edwina and Renaldo's room.

Molly growled as she held a pillow over her head. "AUGH! Isn't there a place a minjo can go to get some SLEEP around here?!" She roared, throwing a spare pillow at the wall. "You're both DISGUSTING!"

_A tired and traumatized Molly sat in front of the camera. "I am NOT going to get a wink of sleep for the next while…" She lamented._


	11. Days 26 to 27

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_That…Could have gone better. We just got blindsided and Molly was sent home, which was the last thing we were expecting since the big alliance is all still here." Grace said. "Mel flipped on us, and since she was aligned with Molly, I want to make sure I know what she was thinking."_

"Mel, wait up!" Grace said as she followed Mel, who was quick to make the attempt to go to the shelter as soon as she got back to camp. "Mel, what happened back there?! What did you do?!"

"Something that I should have done right off the bat." Mel replied simply, looking over her shoulder.

"Mel…You siding with the alliance just put the rest of us in a minority." Grace reminded. "Even if you WERE going to turn on Molly eventually, why not wait until after we were in the clear?!"

"Because that would put Molly further into the game." Mel said. "I couldn't risk her getting any closer to the end."

"_Molly was turning me into something I wasn't. I'm not a villain. I don't backstab for the sake of backstabbing someone." Mel said. "I…I know I'm partially to blame for letting this happen and wanting to survive, but if Molly had her way, I'd probably become just as bad as her. I needed to cut her before that happened."_

"So what now? We're getting put at a major disadvantage now." Grace said.

"Then I guess we'll just have to cross that bridge when we get there, right?" Mel asked as she walked into the shelter.

Grace blinked a few times. "What does that even MEAN?!" She asked as she walked into the shelter after Mel.

Meanwhile, the big Arkos Alliance was gathered by the shore, talking about their recent victory.

"This is going pretty well." Chloe nodded. "Now what do we do?"

"Who's the biggest threat left?" Tempo asked. "Inferno?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of Mel." Chloe added.

"_We need to be careful and choose our targets wisely. We're getting down to the end, so we'd need to make sure we don't take the wrong people closer to the end." Tempo said. "At the moment, it seems that the big candidates for our next target are Mel and Inferno…"_

"This is going to be good. We may not even need to use the idol!" Sandy said in glee.

"We won't?...But…Don't they still outnumber us?" Krash asked.

"Wait. What are you talking about, Krash?" Chloe asked.

"Um…You know…What's stopping the others from ganging up on us and voting us out?" Krash shrugged.

The other three were silent for a few seconds.

"…Just saying."

"_I still don't get how he does that." Chloe scratched her head._

The nine remaining players decided to go to bed. Tomorrow would be a day to get answers, as always…

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 26)**

"_It's getting down to the wire and Erica and I are still here, despite half of our alliance going before the merge." Inferno said. "That has to be an accomplishment in itself. That being said, we're not out of the woods yet. We're still outnumbered and we need a plan."_

"Erica, I think we're going to need to focus attention on the big alliance now." Inferno pointed out. "If it came down to it, you know they'd vote us out."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Erica nodded. "But what? What's the plan?"

"Our best bet would be to make sure we're on the same page as Reginald, Grace and Mel." Inferno replied. "If the five of us join up, we'll outnumber the other four."

"What if the others don't WANT to join forces?" Erica asked. "They could see it as the perfect chance to get rid of US."

"They won't. They'll want to cut the other alliance down to size first."

"And then what?"

"THEN we join forces with the remaining alliance members to vote out the stragglers."

"_Here's the problem I have with this whole idea. That wouldn't make us popular with the jury if we did nothing but flip between alliances." Erica said. "If anything, we'd just be accused of riding the coattails of the others."_

"Look. Here comes Mel." Erica said.

Mel looked around as she approached the two alliance members. "Good. Looks like you guys are alone." She said.

"You sure, though?" Inferno asked with a smirk. "We all know Sandy could be in a bush or up a tree somewhere."

Mel paused, then glanced around a little bit more before continuing. "Look, I want to strike a deal with you two. Maybe join in on an alliance." She explained. "If you two help take out some of the members of the big alliance, I'll help you take out Grace and Reginald."

Erica's eyes lit up. "You mean you want to officially join my alliance?!" She asked excitedly.

"Down, girl." Inferno chuckled as he turned to Mel. "You haven't exactly been playing honest, Mel. How do we know we can trust you?"

"I just helped you eliminate Molly. I think you at least owe me that much."

"_Without Molly, I'm free to play my own game, and I decided to do what I probably should have done a while ago and join forces with an alliance." Mel said. "I'll need to stay on my toes since I'd be an outsider, but I'd fare better than if I was playing alone, anyway."_

"_Mel's actually joining my alliance! This is awesome!" Erica said in glee._

Chloe and Tempo were walking over to Reginald and Grace, who were talking near the fire pit about what to do.

"I'm not sure about this, Tempo." Chloe said.

"We can't take any chances." Tempo explained.

"_Krash pointed out last night that the others could easily join forces and outnumber us, and I've never been able to get that thought out my head since then." Tempo said. "We need to make sure that we keep the numbers because we can't afford to let the others get the advantage."_

"Can we help you two?" Reginald asked as the two came over.

"We need some help and we'd like to make a deal." Tempo explained.

"How so?"

"Inferno's the big threat left, so we'd like to get rid of him next." Tempo continued. "After that, we can take out Erica and Mel."

"And after that?" Grace asked, an eyebrow lifted.

"After that, Chloe and I will help vote out Sandy and Krash."

"_Tempo plans on voting out our original alliance members when it gets down to it, or at least that what he wants the others to think." Chloe said. "I personally don't see how Reginald and Grace are going to buy it, though. I mean, they're both smart; They could see right through it!"_

"…_Yeah, that was an obvious attempt to get our votes. I really don't see how Tempo would vote out non-threats like Sandy and Krash ahead of Grace and I." Reginald folded his arms before smirking. "That being said, him acting like this tells me that he's running out of ideas, which could give me the chance to pick him off."_

"You'd be willing to turn on your allies?" Grace asked, slightly surprised.

"I've seen how close-knit Sandy and Krash are. The two of them at the end would be bad news." Tempo said.

"Tell you what. We'll think about it." Reginald said.

"That's about as good as we may be able to do for now." Tempo nodded.

With that, Tempo and Chloe walked away. Chloe looked up at him. "I don't think they'll go for it." She said.

"So long as the seed's planted, the thought will always be there." Tempo reminded.

"That cliché is so overused." Chloe muttered.

"_Apparently, the plan is that we may be able to get the others to split their votes, but I don't know. They just seem too smart to fall for it." Chloe sighed. "I was really hoping things wouldn't get this complicated."_

Grace watched Tempo and Chloe walk off and looked at Reginald. "I don't think they're telling the truth." She said.

"Neither do I, but we should still consider his words." Reginald replied. "I mean, how do we know that Tempo isn't willing to sell someone out?"

"We don't. We haven't watched season four." Grace replied.

"Exactly. There's no proof." Reginald said. "We'll have to play this one by ear for now."

"And with those ears of yours, you could play anything, Reggie!"

Reginald and Grace snapped their heads up and saw Sandy hanging upside-down from a branch in a tree.

"How much of that did you hear, Sandy?" Reginald said.

"Hopefully enough." Grace told him before looking up at Sandy. "Did you just hear that, Sandy? Tempo's planning on selling you and Krash out!"

"_Call it sneaky if you want. I call it a way to stay in the game. Tempo blabbed to us that he was willing to sell out his allies when Sandy was right there listening to him." Grace said. "Heck, if the alliance ends up cannibalizing itself, that makes it better for the rest of us."_

"You heard it yourself! Maybe you should re-think this whole thing." Grace suggested. "We'd be willing to help you vote the traitors out, you know!"

"We would?" Reginald asked before Grace jabbed him with her elbow.

"Um…Nah. I can let Tempo think whatever he likes." Sandy said brightly. "It's not like he's in charge, anyway. Besides, if he DOES decide to vote against us, it'll just make me convinced that he's an agent for the sand weavals."

With that, Sandy leapt from the branch into another tree and tree-jumped away like a squirrel, leaving Reginald and Grace sitting there.

"…Tempo ISN'T the one in charge?" Grace asked.

"_I'M the one with the idol, you know." Sandy wiggled her eyebrows. "If Tempo tries to sell us out, that just makes him one less person for me to use the idol on when it comes down to it."_

Meanwhile, Krash was trying to fish in the water using his hands, but wasn't having as much luck today. A lot of the fish he pulled up weren't worth holding onto and had to be tossed back.

"Man. Nothing's biting today." Krash lamented as he pulled another sub-par fish from the water. "What gives?"

"To be fair, none of us have really bathed in almost thirty days." Sandy said from behind as she leapt from a nearby tree and landed on the beach. "Your lizard stench is probably just driving the fish away."

"Uh…Reptile." Krash pointed out. "Where have you been, anyway?"

"Hiding in trees. I found out that Tempo and Chloe may be attempting to backstab us soon." Sandy said.

Krash blinked. "…That's not good, right?" He said.

"_I thought the four of us were in an alliance. Why are Tempo and Chloe going to try and go behind our backs to get rid of us?" Krash scratched his head. "It doesn't make any sense to me! What do we do?!"_

"So what's going to happen?" Krash asked. "I mean, they aren't going to backstab us YET, are they?"

"No. I think they'll stick with us until it's just us, Grace and Reggie left." Sandy handwaved it. "Besides, I'm the one with the idol, aren't I?"

"I guess so. But still, shouldn't we at least have some sort of counter-attack?" Krash asked.

"Nah. I'm not up to it. That sounds boring."

"Well…Okay. Just so long as you don't count on me to come up with a plan when it comes down to it." Krash shrugged as he went back to his fishing.

The two were silent for a few seconds.

"Are you SURE you're not from the Donkey Kong cartoon?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"The name Bluster Kong doesn't ring a bell?"

"Who?!"

"_I still think he's denying it. He has to at least KNOW about the show. Maybe if I sang a verse of one of the songs, I'd get him to say something..." Sandy folded her arms with a pout._

Night eventually rolled in. Knowing that there would be a challenge tomorrow, the nine players went to bed.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 27)**

Reginald walked along the shoreline, looking around for the idol again. At this point, he was beginning to wonder if it had already been found.

"This isn't good." Reginald muttered. "If Sandy's already found the other idol, she'll have two. I can't let her get that much power."

"_The thought of Sandy somehow finding a second idol is the only thing that's keeping me searching for the merge idol." Reginald folded his arms. "Someone like her with the power of TWO idols isn't a good thing for any of us. I just need to run with the hope that it hasn't been found yet."_

"We're searched everywhere in the camp, it seems. Where else could the idol be?" Reginald asked himself as his thoughts wandered to the beach. "What if…What if there's some clues around camp that'll point to it?"

Reginald made his way to the top of the waterfall and glanced out at the camp, trying to find some visual cues. His eyes fell on a couple of palm trees that were bending in different directions. Reginald eyes widened as he rushed down the cliff.

"_I saw those two trees bending over in different directions and everything clicked. They were pointing directly at the spot where the idol was buried, and all I needed to do was dig at where the two invisible lines coming from the trees intersected." Reginald smirked, holding up a necklace with a green gem. "This is what I dug up. I'm incredibly relieved that I was able to find it before Sandy. Now I've got some control again."_

"Hey, Reggie! We've got treemail!" Sandy called out from somewhere in the camp.

"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Reginald shouted back as he stuffed the idol into a pocket on his vest. "And will you, for once, just call me Reginald?!"

"NEVER!" Sandy laughed.

Chloe waited for Reginald to meet up with everyone before opening the treemail. "It's wondering how our accuracy is." She said.

"Another accuracy challenge." Mel sighed. "Well, at least there aren't any clear advantages that people have here."

"So how do you think that'll play into the challenge?" Krash scratched his head. "That boomerang challenge didn't go over well for some of us."

"I guess we'll find out when we get there." Chloe said.

"_I'm not looking forward to this. I didn't do well in that boomerang challenge earlier in the season, and if the accuracy involves throwing things like that, then I'm in trouble." Chloe sighed. "I'll have my fingers crossed that it involves something easier to throw."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The nine remaining players emerged from the jungle and onto another clearing. Seeing their mat on the ground, everyone walked over and stepped on.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, N.P.Z.R. Tribe. Here, we will be testing your accuracy and throwing ability." SSBFreak said as everyone became aware of the large target on the ground a good distance away. "You will each be given a relatively-heavy ball to throw at the target over there from a select distance away. Your object is to get as close to the middle of the target as possible, and remember that you only get one chance. Whoever gets closest to the middle of their target will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

"If you'll all come over this way, we can begin."

**(Later…)**

The first one to attempt the throw was Mel, who was holding the ball she was given with both hands.

"First up is Mel. Go ahead and throw whenever you want." SSBFreak said.

Mel took a deep breath and hurled the ball towards the target. It managed to make surprising distance and came to a rolling stop on the third-most outer ring of the ten-ring target.

"Not a bad way to start the challenge. Mel leads for the moment."

"Could have done better." Mel sighed as she stepped aside.

Krash was next. Like Mel, he was holding the ball with both hands as he walked up to the throwing line.

"Next is Krash. You can throw when ready."

Krash pulled his arms over his head and hurled the ball forward with all his might. However, the ball ended up bouncing off the ground, over the target altogether and flying into the jungle. A monkey was heard screaming.

"Um…Let's just say that Mel holds the lead." SSBFreak said. "Can someone go check on that monkey before we get sued?"

Krash nervously inched away as Chloe walked up to the throwing line, looking like she was struggling to hold onto the ball she was given.

"Next to throw is Chloe."

"How do you expect me to throw this thing?!" Chloe asked.

"I'll leave it up to you to figure that out." SSBFreak shrugged.

Chloe groaned as she tried hurling the ball forward, only for it to come down a few feet away from where she had thrown.

"Not a very good throw, Chloe. Mel still leads."

"No kidding." Chloe rolled her eyes and walked to the side.

Tempo was next. He took the time to adjust his glasses as he prepared to throw.

"Tempo is the next one up."

Tempo held his breath and threw his ball at the target, managing to actually hit the target unlike Krash and Chloe. Tempo's ball rolled past Mel's and came to rest only a couple of rings from the middle.

"That's more than enough to take the lead from Mel. Tempo now has the lead."

"Pretty good throw, too." Tempo smirked as he walked to the side.

Reginald approached the line, also looking like he was struggling a bit to carry the large ball.

"Reginald is next."

"These things are heavier than I thought." Reginald muttered as he threw his ball as hard as he could, but could only manage to barely make it onto the target and not even overtake Mel's ball.

"Decent effort, but not enough. Tempo still leads."

"So much for that." Reginald sighed as he walked to the side.

Next up was Grace. The brown-haired girl walked up to the line and took a deep breath.

"Next to throw is Grace."

"Okay. I can do this." Grace said as she hurled her ball towards the target with both hands. The ball bounced onto the target and rolled for a bit, coming to rest around where Mel's was.

"Again, a good effort, but not enough. Tempo is still in the lead."

Grace sighed as she silently walked to the side and let the next person up.

That person was Erica. Like Chloe, she looked like she was struggling to hold onto the ball.

"I don't have a chance here." Erica pointed out.

"You still need to try, Erica." SSBFreak shrugged.

Groaning to herself, Erica hurled the ball. As everyone was expecting, the ball touched down around where Chloe's was.

"Not good enough, I'm afraid. Tempo is still leading."

Erica nodded and walked off, sighing at the performance.

Sandy was next, and was grinning in anticipation. The other players took a step back.

"…Sandy is the next to go." SSBFreak said before pulling a helmet from behind his back and placing it on his head.

"Krash's throw was awesome! I'm gonna imitate it!" Sandy said as she pulled her arm back and hurled the ball with all her might. Like Krash's throw, the ball bounced over the target and into the jungle. Everyone heard a loud crashing noise coming from the jungle.

"OW!" A voice was heard.

"At least it wasn't the monkey again." SSBFreak shrugged as he put the helmet away. "Tempo still leads, by the way."

The last to go was Inferno. The blue-haired man approached the line and analyzed the situation.

"Inferno is the last one to go. This will decide on whether or not Tempo wins Immunity."

Inferno took a deep breath and hurled his ball at the target. The ball hit the ground and rolled forward, going past Tempo's and over the middle before coming to a rest, ironically in the same ring as Tempo's, but on the other side of the bullseye.

"Looks like we have a photo-finish! We'll need to measure the difference in distance to determine the winner!" SSBFreak announced.

**(Later…)**

"Well, this is the closest challenge I can remember having, and the results were indeed extremely-close between Tempo and Inferno." SSBFreak said as he stood in front of the nine players. "However, one of them was closer to the middle, even though it was through the tiniest of margins."

The contestants looked nervous, wondering how the challenge had gone.

"The closest one to the middle, and the winner of the challenge…" SSBFreak said. "…Was Tempo! Tempo wins Immunity!"

Tempo breathed a sigh of relief as he was handed the Immunity Necklace.

"Tempo is safe tonight, but I'll be seeing you all at Tribal Council later, where another of you will be voted out of the game." SSBFreak said. "You've got the rest of the afternoon to make up for minds, so for now, you can head back to camp."

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"So what do we do?" Grace asked. "Tempo was the main target, wasn't he?"

"We'll have to focus on one of the others." Reginald said.

"Do we have the votes, though?"

"The others have to realize that we'll be at a disadvantage if this doesn't work."

"_Basically, Reginald and I are hoping that we can make it 5-4 for our side against Sandy's alliance, but the biggest question mark is Sandy's idol." Grace said. "We need to either make her think that her alliance is safe or get her to waste the idol altogether."_

"So how do we do this?" Grace asked. "Do we try to run some ideas by the others?"

"I think I may have an idea." Reginald said. "Yeah, we'll have to run it by the others, though."

"I just hope this works."

Meanwhile, Sandy's alliance was gathered around the top of the waterfall, wondering what the plan was.

"I think we need to target Inferno. He's probably the biggest threat left now." Tempo said.

"That's fine, but what if the others decide to gang up on us?" Chloe asked.

"I've got an idol, you know." Sandy supplied. "I'll just use it tonight."

"What if they make you waste the idol, though? There are THREE potential targets they could be gunning for!"

"_We know that one of us is likely going to be a target, but which one? Sandy only has the power to save one of us." Chloe said. "This is going to be nerve-wracking trying to figure out how the vote's going to go?"_

"Reginald's got it out for Sandy." Tempo supplied.

"Krash is a big physical threat, though." Chloe folded her arms.

"You're lucky you've got Immunity, man. They'd probably go after you otherwise." Krash said to Tempo.

Tempo paused. "You're probably right about that."

"_Man. This is intense. I hope that Sandy makes the right choice for who she uses the idol on, because it could be any of us." Krash scratched his head. "I bet she's doing nothing but thinking about what she's going to do right now."_

_Sandy sat in front of the camera for a few seconds. "…You ever wonder why Colorado looks so much like Wyoming?" She asked._

**(Tribal Council)**

The nine remaining players walked into Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Finding a spot on the remaining seats, everyone sat down as they waited for council to commence.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the current members of the jury." SSBFreak said. "Edwina, Renaldo and Molly, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Molly had her arms crossed as she followed Edwina and Renaldo into the hut and walked over to the jury bench. Everyone saw that Molly's hair was gelled a little to make it look spikier, and was wearing a dark top and ripped pants that made her look like a punk. The three jury members sat down.

"The jury is only here to watch the outcome of the council. They will not address you and you are not to address them." SSBFreak said as he started to ask questions. "Mel, you were in an apparent alliance with Molly, and yet you were one of the votes against her. What made you flip?"

"I didn't flip." Mel insisted. "I was just realizing what Molly was turning me into and I didn't like that. Decided that I needed to cut all ties with her before I went too far."

"She's just trying to convince herself that." Molly muttered.

"Grace, how did the vote affect you overall?" SSBFreak asked.

"It wasn't good. I mean, we weren't worried about Molly, and the majority of us got our priorities mixed up." Grace said.

"Like what?"

"Um…I don't know…Like how there's an alliance of four STILL IN THE GAME?" Grace asked.

"Sandy, I'm assuming that she's talking about you and your alliance?"

"She is? Oh, I'm flattered." Sandy said. "She must be talking about how I have an idol and they're going to try and get me to use it."

Everyone watched as Sandy pulled the Arkos Idol from her top and showed it. "Look, I'll admit that I'm carefree, but I'm not dumb. I know they're gonna try and vote off me or my buddies." Sandy continued.

"Man. Sandy with any kind of power like that is kinda frightening." Renaldo rubbed his head.

"Erica, is that what the plan is?" SSBFreak asked. "Trying to make Sandy use the idol?"

"Well, it's not my idea. The main part of the idea came from Grace and Reginald." Erica said. "But yeah, the plan is basically to make Sandy waste the idol."

"You think you can do it?"

"I don't know. Sandy's liable to figure out what it is the rest of us are doing."

"I still think we're giving her too much credit." Reginald rolled his eyes.

"Guess who's going to put a howler monkey under your pillow tonight, Reggie." Sandy smirked.

"Chloe, how do you think the vote will go tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"I don't know. None of us do. We've been trying to figure out who the target is, but we're having a hard time trying to come up with an explanation that'll help us." Chloe said. "We can honestly see the others voting for any of us."

"Tempo, you've got Immunity. Looking at how things are going, do you think you needed it?"

"I think so. I would have been a pretty big target if I didn't have it." Tempo nodded.

"Why would you say that?" Grace asked.

"Because I'd call myself a threat as well. There's no denying it."

"You're not giving any reasons."

"I'm not giving any ideas, either."

"He's probably the biggest threat still there." Edwina noted.

"I don't see it." Renaldo shook his head.

"Inferno, do you think you're making the right choice with how you're voting?" SSBFreak asked.

Inferno paused. "I dunno. I think so, but in the end, I'm still not entirely sure." He admitted.

"Well, I think that's enough questions. Before we continue, I have to ask…" SSBFreak said. "Tempo, you have Immunity. Are you keeping it?"

"Yeah, I am."

"With that, Tempo is immune and cannot be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Krash, you're up."

Krash got up and left the hut to go vote. Walking over to the table, the kremling scribbled a name down and voted before walking away.

Erica wrote a name down quickly and voted. "I hope this is the right vote." She said as she walked away from the table.

Sandy approached the tabple and wasted no time in writing a name down. Sandy was surprisingly silent as she voted and walked back.

Chloe scribbled a name down and revealed it. "We like you, but you're too much of a threat." She said, having voted for Inferno.

Inferno looked to be in thought as he wrote a name down. After finishing, Inferno paused in thought for a moment before voting and returning to the hut.

Grace was silent as she walked up to the table and wrote a name down. "This needs to work or else we're all doomed." She said as she voted and left the table.

Tempo wrote a name down and turned it around, revealing Inferno's name. "I thought about it, and you're the big threat." He said as he voted and walked away.

Mel looked a little nervous as she wrote a name down. "Please waste the idol. Please waste the idol." She said as she voted and walked away.

Reginald remained silent as he wrote a name down. The Rabbid looked over his ballot one more time before placing it into the urn and returning to the hut.

Once all nine players voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the votes and returned with them moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." SSBFreak said.

"Hold up, pal."

Sandy stood up and held up the idol. "I'm gonna use this tonight…And I'm gonna use it on…" She said as she looked around to see if she could read anyone's faces. "…My buddy, Krash."

Krash looked pleasantly surprised as Sandy handed over the idol to the host.

"This is indeed the Arkos Immunity Idol. All votes cast against Krash will not be counted." SSBFreak said. "If no one wants to play the Merge Idol, it's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Inferno." Inferno remained silent.

"Inferno." The council was silent.

"Inferno." Inferno breathed heavily.

"Inferno. That's four." Sandy's alliance looked at each other.

"…Chloe." Chloe's eyes widened, as did her alliance's.

"Chloe. It's 4-2." "But…Why?!"

"Chloe." "If we couldn't take the threat, we take his sidekick." Reginald smirked.

"Chloe. It's 4-4." Chloe sighed in defeat as Tempo looked stunned. "Last vote, fourth member of the jury and twelfth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Chloe. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

"Well I didn't see that coming. That was good." Chloe said as she got up, grabbed her torch and walked over to the host.

"Chloe, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Chloe's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"You take them down, Tempo." Chloe said as she walked out of council and vanished from sight.

Once Chloe was gone, SSBFreak turned to the survivors. "And so ends another council, which included the waste of an idol. Two idols have been used and the only one that remains is the Merge Idol." He said. "It could still be in play, or someone could have found it already, but all I know is that there's only one left and it's still anyone's game. You can all head back to camp."

The eight remaining players stood up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. Tempo followed from behind, looking down. His closest ally had just been blindsided, and after he had gone to some of the others to make side deals. Tempo knew that he'd have to watch himself, because not many of these people were to be trusted anymore.

"_I'm glad that I made it further than I did last time, and heck, I made the jury. I'm gonna be voting for a winner this time, and that'll be good." Chloe nodded. "I just hope that there'll be someone I can vote for in the finals, because I'm not sure if I can vote for some of those people back there…"_

**Voting History:**

**Chloe – Erica, Grace, Inferno, Mel and Reginald**

**Inferno – Chloe, Krash, Sandy and Tempo**

Author's Notes: And so Chloe goes again, having made the merge this time but lasting only a few episodes longer. I had my reasons for booting Chloe here (which will be explained in the next episode). I knew that the big Arkos alliance couldn't last forever and someone needed to go here, so Chloe went as a means to take out Tempo's loyal sidekick and leave him with less power.

Originally, Chloe was scheduled to go a spot further than this, but I decided against it when I saw that a tight alliance of four in the final eight would cut back on the suspense.

**(Ponderosa)**

It was dark out as the limo drove up a driveway leading to the familiar mansion. When the limo stopped, the back door opened and out stepped Chloe, who looked up in awe at the mansion.

"Wow! Look at this place! This is awesome!" Chloe said.

"_Making the jury is great because when you get eliminated, you get sent to an awesome jury house for the rest of the game." Chloe said. "This place is already a few steps up from the Loser's Lodge I went to back in my season!"_

Chloe opened up the door to the mansion and walked in. "I'm home!" She said.

"Oh! There you are, Chloe!" Edwina said as she came over. "We were wondering why you took so long to come here."

"The medical staff decided to keep me a little longer." Chloe replied. "Apparently, I've got a stomach virus and I've got two weeks to live."

Edwina blinked a few times. "Um…What?"

Chloe grinned. "Just kidding. As it turns out, I was just experiencing some cold-like symptoms because I spent so much time in the lake." She said.

Edwina sighed. "Looks like spending so much time with Sandy hasn't been that good for you, either." She admitted.

"_I liked Chloe, but there was always something about her that put me off. Maybe it was the fact that her mouth tends to move out-of-sync with her words." Edwina said. "Then again, maybe it was because she was willingly aligning with Sandy. That couldn't be good for anyone…"_

"So where's the grub? I'm starving." Chloe said as she walked into the mansion.

"Over here." Renaldo said from the kitchen as he grabbed a soda from the fridge. "There's plenty here, so eat what you like."

"Great!" Chloe said as she grabbed a plate.

Molly watched from a chair. "I doubt someone that small is capable of eating a whole lot, though." She admitted.

_Renaldo sat in front of the camera awkwardly. "Man. She seriously ate, like, three huge plates of food before she finished. I guess part of being a Japanese cartoon parody is that you get the comically-bottomless stomach to go with it." He said._

Chloe, finally content, set aside her last plate and sat back in the easy-chair she was in. "That was amazing." She sighed. "I've hardly eaten anything for almost thirty days."

"So now that you're done, how about we talk about the game?" Edwina asked.

"Yeah. The fact that the others got Sandy to waste her idol was pretty good." Molly smirked.

"Don't rub it in, Molly." Edwina scolded.

"She's out of the game. I feel that I can say what I want." Molly retorted.

Chloe handwaved the comments. "Eh, it's fine. Yeah, the vote took me by surprise, though." She said. "Still not sure why they decided to target me instead of Sandy or Krash."

"Because Tempo was their intended target and he was immune, so they go after his sidekick." Molly said. "Reginald said that out loud as the votes were getting read."

"I wasn't really paying attention. The surprise was kinda overwhelming."

"_I suppose it makes sense if I think about it, but it still kinda felt unfair when it comes down to it. I mean, I wasn't a threat and I was really enjoying myself out there." Chloe sighed. "And now I have to hope that my alliance can persevere to the end because I'm not sure if I wanna vote for anyone else."_

"So where am I sleeping?" Chloe asked Molly.

"I've got my own room while the couple is sharing the big room." Molly said. "Other than that, you've got free reign over the rooms."

"Oh, great! I'm gonna see if I can get a room with an ocean view!" Chloe said.

"Hold up. Just giving you a heads-up, you're probably going to want these when you go to bed." Molly said as she tossed Chloe a pair of earmuffs.

Chloe looked over the earmuffs for a second. "What do I need these for?" She asked.

"You'll find out. Let's just say they're the only way I can get any sleep." Molly sighed as she walked away.

Chloe blinked in confusion.


	12. Days 28 to 30

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

_Tempo sighed. "We were just dealt out first major blow in the game. Chloe, my earliest ally and a member of our alliance, just got blindsided, and on top of that, they got Sandy to waste her idol." He said. "We need to think hard and think fast here or else the rest of the alliance will fall one after the other."_

Sandy pouted and folded her arms. "Well, that wasn't fun. That Reggie can be a real drag, sometimes." She said.

"You can say that again." Tempo sighed.

"That Reggie can be a real drag, sometimes."

"…I suppose I should have seen that coming."

"Well, now what?" Krash asked. "They all outnumber us and they could easily vote us out."

"I don't think the others will do that, though…" Tempo noted. "I mean, they could just be trying to take us down to manageable numbers and then join us to take out the other alliance."

"You think so?"

"I don't think they'd just let themselves get put into a bad position late in the game."

"_Tempo thinks that we may not be in as much trouble as we think we are because we could provide some numbers. Man, this stuff is confusing." Krash held his head. "I thought that being blindsided was BAD, but apparently there are good things about it? How the heck does that even WORK?"_

Reginald seemed pleased with the results of the vote as he and Grace walked through camp. "I'm glad that worked. We've still got power here." He explained.

"So what now? We get rid of the rest of Sandy's alliance?" Grace asked.

Reginald paused. "We'll see. If we determine that there are bigger threats on the other alliance, we'll start voting them out." He replied.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

"You worry too much."

"No. I worry because it was things like this that killed the both of us before and you know it." Grace reminded. "What makes you think this time will be any different?"

"Because we can easily turn the alliances on each other. We're not the threats." Reginald assured.

"_I've got the idol; The only idol left in the game since Sandy wasted hers. This gives me a leg up on the competition if I know they're coming after me." Reginald said. "I know it can only save us once, but it's a second wind regardless. However, if Grace and I can keep the other alliances against each other, we may not be needing to use it for a bit."_

"_I've been following Reginald around for a while and I think that his strategy is a bit flawed. He can't keep flipping between alliances and expect to survive." Grace informed. "I may need to start taking actions into my own hands again, because if he keeps this up, the others are sure to get wise before too long."_

Everyone decided to go to bed and prepare for the following day.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 28)**

A water-logged Inferno climbed out of the lake. "I'm still not finding it." He told Erica.

"We need to keep looking, Inferno. The lake is pretty much the only place we haven't covered yet." Erica replied as she walked around the shore of the lake to see if she spotted something.

Mel walked over as Inferno dejectedly waded back into the middle of the lake. "Um…What exactly are you guys looking for?" She asked.

"The idol. We've been searching for it since we merged and we feel like we've turned this camp inside out looking for it." Erica sighed.

"Well, I guess this camp IS bigger than the ones we started with." Mel scratched her head. "There's a lot of ground to cover."

"I know. That's half the frustration."

"_Frankly, I never really liked having the idol hidden around camp, because that means it could literally be anywhere." Erica said. "At least at Exile Island, there isn't a lot of places it could be hidden; Just a lot of sand."_

"How long has Inferno been out there?" Mel asked.

"Dunno. I lost track of time about two weeks ago." Erica shrugged.

"And…Why are you making him go out into the middle of the lake to search?"

"Because he can actually touch the bottom of the lake."

Meanwhile, Inferno was wading around the middle of the lake, having just come up for air.

"Man. It can't be in the lake. I've gone through every inch of this lake and not a sign of it!" Inferno panted.

"_This is getting annoying. We've been trying to find the idol for so long that I think someone else has already found it." Inferno explained. "If that's the case, then we may be running into some problems. I mean, who could HAVE it? Finding that out would be a chore in itself."_

"…Dun-dun…"

Inferno paused and glanced around. "What the?"

"…Dun-dun…" A black shape glided through the water behind Inferno.

Inferno looked behind him, only to see that the shape was gone. "I feel like I'm being watched…"

"…Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun…"

Inferno looked over his shoulder.

Sandy was leaping directly at him, a crazed look in her eyes. **"DA-DAAAAH!"** She screamed.

"ACK!" Was all Inferno could get out before Sandy pounced him and the two went under the water.

_A wet Sandy sat in front of the camera, grinning. "Just so you know, I'm aware that doing that to Inferno served no purpose for me. I just always wanted to do a Jaws reference and took the chance when I saw it." She insisted._

Krash swam over and saw Sandy laughing as Inferno sputtered, coughing up some water. "Sandy, what are you doing?" He asked.

"Imitating a shark." Sandy said.

"Sorry, Inferno." Krash said. "She's like this in the morning sometimes."

Inferno coughed again. "I wouldn't have been bothered by it as much if she didn't surprise me so much that I swallowed some water." He admitted.

"Uh…Yeah, sorry about that." Krash chuckled as he grabbed Sandy by the arm. "Come on, Sandy. I don't think you want another timeout."

Inferno sighed. "Sandy's trying to kill me."

Krash dragged Sandy onto the shore and looked at her. "So why the heck did you do that, anyway? Just for fun?" He asked.

"Nah. I gave him a pat-down while we were underwater to see if he had any idols. I got nothing." Sandy shrugged.

"Wouldn't you get penalized for stealing the idol if he DID have it, though?"

"Who's stealing the idol? I just wanted to see if he HAD it."

_Krash scratched his head. "I really don't get her sometimes. Am I the only one that doesn't get her?" He asked._

Meanwhile, Grace was wandering around the camp, looking around. Deciding to avoid Sandy and Krash, Grace spotted Tempo trying to start a fire and made her way over.

"Hey, Tempo." Grace said as she walked over. "I was hoping I could talk."

"Grace, you ousted one of my allies last night. Why would I want to believe any strategy from you and not expect a lie?" Tempo asked.

"Tempo, you were in an alliance of FOUR at the final nine. Something needed to be done." Grace said. "Now listen up. I want to make a bit of a deal. Reginald is intent on voting out another of your alliance, but I think that there are bigger threats on the other alliance."

"Okay. Say I believe you. Who's your first target?"

"Erica."

"_Erica is probably one of the biggest threats left. She seems to know everything about the rest of us because she's a fan and people like her. Heck, Mel JUMPED SHIP and voted out Molly just so she could join Erica." Grace said. "I'd like to try and take Erica out as soon as possible because I think she could beat the rest of us in the finals."_

"Why would you go against Reginald, though?" Tempo asked.

"I'm not going against him. I just don't like the direction he's going at the moment." Grace folded her arms.

Tempo paused, appearing to be in thought. "I'm not sure. To be frank, I still don't believe that you're telling the truth completely." He said.

"If Reginald gets the other alliance to vote with him, that's four voted against your three." Grace said. "I think you need to at least give me the benefit of the doubt."

Tempo took another pause, seeming to scan over Grace to see if he should believe her. "Okay. You've got a point." He admitted.

"_I'm not sure if I should trust Grace, but if what she tells me about Reginald is true, we're going to need help." Tempo said. "I mean, she's partially responsible for my alliance been down a member at this point, but we need to at least enforce a tie."_

"I'll buy it for now, but remember that I still don't fully trust you and I still suspect that you're planning to backstab my alliance." Tempo warned.

"That's the best I'll probably get at this point." Grace shrugged.

Meanwhile again, Reginald walked over to the alliance of Inferno, Erica and Mel, who were gathered around the beach. Inferno was sitting down and wringing water out of his unusual hair.

"Ah, good. You're all together." Reginald said as he walked over.

"What's up, Reginald?" Inferno asked.

"Knowing him, it's probably something to do with strategy." Erica said.

"I'll ignore that." Reginald said. "What exactly happened, Inferno?"

"Eh, I had a bit of a run-in with Sandy in the lake." Inferno said.

"What would you say to a deal to take her out of the game?"

"_Frankly, I've been wanting to outlast Sandy as soon as I heard that I was coming back. This second chance would give me the chance to do just that." Reginald said. "If Tempo wins Immunity again, I can get the other alliance to vote out Sandy, and I may not even need to use my idol on anyone."_

"Why would you want Sandy out, though? I mean, other than the obvious fact that she did better than you did last time." Erica said with a smirk.

"It's more of a backup if Tempo wins Immunity again. If he doesn't win Immunity, then we can target him." Reginald said. "…But yes, another reason for me wanting her out is so I can say I outlasted her."

"Kinda figured that."

"So…Just like that? You're willing to vote with us again?" Mel asked.

"The big threats are on the other alliance." Reginald said.

"_Frankly, I'm a little suspicious. I mean, I literally left Reginald's alliance so I could join Erica's, and yet he still seems intent on voting out the others." Mel folded her arms. "I actually think this is too good of a chance to be true and if it weren't for his determination to outlast Sandy I'd think he'd be lying."_

As Reginald walked off, Mel glanced at the others. "I'm not sure if I trust him." He said.

"He appears to be giving us a free pass, though." Inferno said.

"It's REGINALD. Nothing's ever that easy around him." Mel said. "Believe me, I would know."

"But when you factor in the fact that he wants to outlast Sandy…" Erica said.

"I know. That's what makes what he says half-believable." Mel sighed. "I don't know what to think anymore."

"I'd say we wait a bit and see what happens over the next couple of days." Inferno said. "We can always try to get Sandy to rile him up a bit more and cement his vote against her."

"I'd think that you just want to avoid having any more run-ins with her." Erica said.

"That too."

"_I honestly don't know how Reginald managed to last a full season against Sandy. I've only had a few run-ins with her by comparison and already I look over my shoulder every five minutes." Inferno said._

Night eventually arrived. Knowing that there would be a challenge tomorrow, everyone went to bed to prepare for it.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 29)**

"Wait. Why are you trying to get them to vote out Sandy?" Grace asked.

"I'm telling you that's it's a backup choice if Tempo wins Immunity." Reginald insisted.

"If Tempo wins Immunity, we need to target someone on the opposing alliance! I still say we need to take out Erica!"

"She's not a threat by comparison."

"She knows everything about us and is the reason Mel jumped ship in the FIRST place!"

"_Why is Reginald doing this?! I thought he was smarter than this! He's really just determined to vote out Sandy or Tempo and completely-ignoring the fact that there are bigger threats on the other alliance!" Grace said. "How the heck can I make him realize that he's not thinking things through?!"_

"Hey, Reggie! We've got treemail!" Sandy announced as she walked into camp.

"My name is freaking REGINALD!" Reginald shouted as he came over.

"Your name is now 'Mullet-Brain'." Sandy grinned as she ripped open the envelope.

Reginald blinked, a little dumbfounded. "…I don't even GET that one!"

Sandy appeared to ignore him. "Oh, look! It's asking if we're any good at finding a needle in a haystack!" She said.

"Just what we need. Another luck-based challenge." Inferno sighed.

"_These luck-based challenges can be a little frustrating to deal with because no one's at a clear advantage." Erica noted. "While it can be a help to those that have trouble in other challenges, it takes away the advantage that the others have."_

"We may as well go see what this challenge is." Erica said.

"Judging by how long we've got left, I'd say it's another Reward." Tempo said.

"Haven't we lost track of how many days are left?"

"Thankfully, the host tends to remind us of what day it is from time to time."

**(Reward Challenge)**

The eight remaining players walked out onto a clearing and saw their mat sitting on the ground. Everyone walked over to it and stepped on to wait for the challenge to begin.

"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, N.P.Z.R. Tribe. Here, we will be testing your luck to see if it's actually possible to find a needle in a haystack." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw that there was a huge pile of hay behind the host in the middle of the clearing. "There are eight pairs of balls hidden in this hay pile, each pair a different colour. You will each be assigned a colour and then try to find the two balls of your colour before bringing them back out here and putting them on a pedestal. Also note that if you find any ball that isn't of your colour, you must put it back. Don't try to sabotage the others by holding onto a ball that isn't yours. The first person to find the two correct balls will win Reward, which is a day-long trip to a spa."

"Now, if you'll pay attention, I will explain to you all what colours you will be searching for…"

**(Later…)**

The eight contestants stood in a line, waiting to start. They all knew what colour the balls were that they were looking for, so all they needed to do was wait until the challenge began.

"Okay. For Reward, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

The eight players took off running towards the big pile of hay and went right to work at searching, starting from different angles so they could have a better chance at finding something.

"At least it's not a literal needle in a haystack." Reginald noted.

"We're not THAT sadistic, Reginald." SSBFreak said. "We'd be here all night and we'd really like to get some sleep tonight."

"Still, look at all of this hay!" Tempo said. "It'll still take us a while to find two balls of the same colour!"

Sandy pulled a green ball from the haystack. "Nope. Not mine." She shrugged as she shoved the ball back into the haystack and continued searching.

Mel dug an orange ball out of the hay and put it back. "I hope I'm searching the right area." She muttered to herself.

The contestants continued to search for a bit, no one having any luck finding anything. This continued for a little bit and piles of discarded hay were quickly piling up around the huge pile in the middle of the clearing.

"Man, that's going to take a while to clean up. So glad I'm not doing it." SSBFreak muttered before addressing the contestants. "Grace, how are you doing?"

"If I was doing well, would I still be searching a haystack for a brightly-coloured ball?" Grace asked flatly. "We all hate these stupid luck-based challenges!"

"Good to hear. I'll let you get back to it." SSBFreak said. "Erica, how do you plan on winning a challenge like this?"

"We CAN'T plan. This is a luck-based challenge." Erica replied.

"But how do you think your chances are?"

"As good as anyone else! It's a LUCK-BASED challenge!"

SSBFreak shrugged. "Reginald, what's going through your mind right now?" He asked.

"The fact that you've put so much thought into asking us pointless questions during a challenge where no one has a clear advantage!" Reginald snapped. "Now stop it with the stupid questions, will you?!"

"…Fine. If that's how you're going to act, I'll just stay quiet."

"THANK you!"

SSBFreak stood back and pouted as the contestants continued to work on the challenge. A few more minutes passed and no one had managed to find anything yet. The piles of hay gathering around the big one were starting to get bigger.

Inferno suddenly spotted something in the hay he was looking around; a black ball. Inferno was quick to scoop it up. "I've got one!" He called out as he raced to one of the eight pedestals provided and put his first ball onto it.

"Inferno scores the first point and only needs one more to win." SSBFreak explained.

"Wait! I've got one!" Mel said as she raced to the pedestals with a green ball.

"So have I!" Tempo said, holding an orange ball.

"Mel and Tempo tie it up. It can still go any way."

As the three leading players returned to the haystack, everyone continued searching as if nothing had happened. The players who hadn't scored a point yet were searching noticeably faster than they were previously.

"This is stupid." Reginald muttered. "Some of us have to be getting close."

"Diggin'…Dig-dig diggin'…" Sandy sang as she had burrowed into the pile of hay. "Digga-dig-dug-diggin'…"

Krash blinked. "Uh…Sandy?" He asked. "What are you doing?"

"Diggin'." Sandy said before pausing. "…Dig-dug-diggin'…"

"Um…Okay. I'll let you go back to it." Krash said before stumbling upon a blue ball. "Oh, hey! I've found one!"

As Krash scooped up his ball and raced to the pedestals, Grace came across a pink ball. "Finally!" She said as she picked it up.

"Krash and Grace are on the board. So far, only Erica, Sandy and Reginald have yet to score." SSBFreak said.

"I think we can rule out Sandy again." Inferno noted. "She seems a little preoccupied."

"Diggin'-digga-digga-dug-diggin'…"

The contestants continued to search, the main pile of hay constantly getting smaller and smaller.

"How come I haven't found any yet?" Reginald asked, starting to look frustrated before looking at Grace. "Have you found any of mine, Grace?"

Grace blinked. "Uh…I wasn't paying attention when the host told you what colour you were looking for." She admitted. "I was trying to memorize my own."

Reginald sighed. "Great."

Suddenly, Sandy's grinning shot out of the hay near where Reginald was sitting. "Hiya, Reggie!" She said, making Reginald jump back in fear.

"STOP DOING THAT!"

Krash and Inferno paused, looked at each other and looked at where Sandy had tunneled into, seeing that she had made a tunnel in the hay going straight to Reginald, who was across from her. The two looked at each other, shrugged and resumed their searching.

Minutes continued to crawl by and no one had managed to find anything. People were starting to wonder if the balls were all gathered at the middle of the haystack (or if Sandy's tunneling had pushed them closer to the middle by accidentally), and were wondering if any of them would find the correct ball next.

Suddenly, Mel spotted another green ball that was blending in a bit with the grass. Mel grabbed it and started running back.

"She found the second ball?!" Reginald asked.

Mel quickly placed the green ball on her pedestal next to the other one, ending the challenge.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Mel wins Reward!"

"Alright! That's awesome!" Mel cheered.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Mel. You will be going to the spa for the next day for winning the challenge, but we'll let you take one of the others with you to keep you company." SSBFreak said.

"I'll return the favour to her from earlier and bring Erica." Mel said without hesitating.

"Alright!" Erica said as she made her way over to join Mel.

SSBFreak turned to the other players. "Mel and Erica will be going on their Reward trip and rejoin the rest of you at tomorrow's Immunity Challenge." SSBFreak explained. "You can all head back to camp."

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_Mel won Reward and took Erica with her, which leaves me alone with everyone else. However, I came up with an idea and I think I may have my chance to use it." Inferno said. "Reginald came to us about voting out someone on the other alliance, but we frankly don't trust him. Why not temporarily bury the hatchet with the others and vote him out?"_

"Wait. You want to vote out Reginald?" Tempo asked.

"Think about it, guys. He's liable to flip between alliances to keep himself around." Inferno said. "I'm thinking we should just get rid of him and save all of us the trouble."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Tempo asked.

"I'll be frank. Reginald came to us with the intent on voting either you or Sandy out at the next council." Inferno explained.

"Huh…That doesn't sound good." Krash scratched his head.

"No, and I have a feeling he'd go back and forth between us, voting out people until he's got some more power." Inferno explained.

"Eh, Reggie's just full of hot air. I mess around with him too much for him to be a threat." Sandy said.

"This is exactly WHY he's wanting to vote you out, Sandy."

"_Something's bothering me, though. If Reginald was wanting to vote out one of us, why did Grace come to us to vote out one of the other alliance?" Krash asked. "I mean, I thought those two were in cahoots or something."_

"Just think about it. This could be our big chance to blindside Reginald and he won't even see it coming." Inferno said.

Tempo watched Inferno walk off and looked at Sandy and Krash. "I'm not sure if I believe him or not." He said.

"You're starting to sound like Renaldo with that pessimistic attitude." Sandy smirked.

"But what do we have to lose?" Krash asked.

"Say we DO agree with him and vote for Reginald. Who's to say that Inferno's alliance still won't vote for one of us?" Tempo asked. "We'd get blindsided!"

"Too bad I waste my idol. That could have come in handy." Sandy noted.

"I know. We're going to have to use our wits to try and outsmart the others."

"_Grace gave us a good offer, but Inferno's giving us an offer that sounds not too bad, either." Sandy shrugged. "I mean, I'd LIKE to get the last laugh with Reggie again, but then I'd be bored out here because there'd be no one to mess with."_

**(Spa Location)**

Erica sat back in a chair as some hairdressers started fixing up her hair. "Man. This is so relaxing." She admitted. "Thanks for bringing me along, Mel."

"Anytime. Like I said, I wanted to return the favour." Mel assured from a chair beside Erica, getting a manicure as some others worked on her hair as well.

"I still appreciate it."

"_They said I was too young to get the full spa treatment, but they gave me a manicure, fixed up my hair and let me have a nice, warm bath for a while." Erica said. "They took Mel off a while ago to give her the full spa treatment, and I'm not sure what goes on during that, but she came back feeling a lot more-refreshed."_

The workers, once they were done, left the two girls alone to relax, saying that they would be back later. Mel and Erica reclined back and relaxed, looking content.

"How do you think Inferno's handling being alone with the others?" Erica asked. "I mean, you think the others would try to secure his vote since he's alone?"

"I don't know. Personally, I think Inferno's too smart to be played like that." Mel shook her head. "In fact, I'd say he's handling himself pretty well."

"I sure hope so."

"_I'll admit that I felt a little bad about not being able to bring Inferno as well, but when you think about it, I'm not sure if he'd like this whole spa treatment thing." Mel shrugged. "Just doesn't seem like his style, is all."_

"So what do you think we should do now?" Erica asked. "I mean, in the game."

"What do you mean?" Mel asked.

"Reginald came to US, remember. I'm sure Inferno's going to have something he wants to tell us when we get back."

"Like if something happened while we're gone?"

"People are going to be desperate for votes." Erica explained. "At this point, I'd say something must be happening."

"_I guess part of being a fan of the show is that you tend to know when people will start playing differently, and considering we're down to the final eight, I'd say anything is possible." Erica explained. "So will something happen at camp? I'd say it's a sure thing."_

Night came around. The final eight went to bed to prepare for the important Immunity Challenge the following day.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 30)**

"So you think you managed to get their votes?" Grace asked, arms folded.

"I think so. If they help us vote out Tempo, we'll get a bit of an edge." Reginald nodded.

Grace sighed. "Let it be known that I still think this is a stupid idea."

"Then why are you going with it?" Reginald asked suspiciously.

"Because you're the one who'll take the rap when the vote's done." Grace shrugged.

"Thanks a lot."

"_I've decided to play along with Reginald's plan, but not tell him that I've been planning something different." Grace said. "I'm sure that if I told him I wanted to vote out Erica first, he'd find some way to ruin the idea or pin blame on me before the vote."_

"_Voting out Tempo is essential for either of us to win because I know he'd be impossible to beat. If he wins Immunity, then we'll just vote for Sandy." Reginald said. "Either way, we need to bring down the numbers in the power alliance."_

"We've got treemail, you two! Get over here!" Inferno called out as the others were gathered around Tempo, who had treemail.

"Coming." Grace replied as she and Reginald made their way over. "So what's the Immunity Challenge going to be?"

"It's wondering how we think we can fare in a tournament." Tempo replied.

Reginald sighed. "That doesn't sound promising."

"I'm okay with it." Krash pointed out.

"Of course you would, my muscled, reptilian friend." Sandy said.

"_You know? In these types of challenges, I think that I've got a good shot. I mean, depending on what it is, I have the element of unpredictability on my side. Reggie can attest to that." Sandy said. "If it requires brute strength, I think I can out-muscle a lot of people."_

"_I wonder if I can get Sandy to be disinterested in the challenge and make her drop out…" Reginald pondered._

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The six players at camp walked out onto another clearing and saw their mat sitting on the ground. They all walked over and stepped on.

"Before we continue, let's bring back Mel and Erica, who are back from their Reward trip." SSBFreak said.

Mel and Erica walked in from the side and people noticed that they looked refreshed and cleaned up. The two girls joined the others on the mat and waited for the challenge to start.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, N.P.Z.R. Tribe. Here, we will be testing your abilities in a tournament-based one-on-one challenge." SSBFreak said as everyone saw two small platforms sitting on the ground behind the host. "Two people will face off at a time, armed with padded sticks in an attempt to knock their opponent off their platform. The person left standing will move on and obviously the last person standing at the end of the challenge will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

"If you'll come with me, we can start the challenge and get everyone set up."

**(Later…)**

The first match was against Grace and Mel. The two women eyed each other determinedly.

"Okay. The first match is Grace vs. Mel." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Grace acted first and lashed out, jabbing the padded stick into Mel's face. Although Mel almost lost her balance, she managed to recover and took a swing at Grace's leg.

As it turned out, Grace wasn't expecting Mel to make the recovery. The hit took Grace by surprise and managed to force her off of the platform and onto the ground.

"Mel wins and advances to the semi-finals."

"How'd you like THAT, Grace?" Mel asked with a smirk.

**(Later…)**

Reginald looked like he was wobbling a bit to stay on his platform. Erica, being much smaller, was having an easier time keeping her balance.

"Next is Reginald vs. Erica." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

"This should be over quick." Reginald said as he made a sweeping motion with his weapon in an attempt to knock Erica off.

Erica leapt over Reginald's weapon and landed back on her platform, keeping her balance. "Not this time!" She said as she lashed out her weapon and struck Reginald in the stomach.

Although Reginald got the wind knocked out of him, he didn't fall off. Using one hand, Reginald swung his weapon again, striking Erica in the side and knocking her off the platform.

"Reginald wins and advances to the semi-finals."

"That was roughed than I would have hoped." Reginald muttered, still short on breath.

**(Later…)**

Krash and Tempo glanced at each other, a little awkwardly since they were on the same alliance. Krash scratched his head.

"Next is Krash vs. Tempo." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Krash made the first move and attempted to jab Tempo, but Tempo blocked the blow with his weapon and pushed forward, forcing Krash towards the edge of his platform, although Krash managed to regain his footing.

"Okay. Close call, but still in this." Krash told himself. "Okay, Tempo! Time to-"

That was all Krash got out before Tempo jabbed him in the face, making the kremling topple over and fall off his platform.

"Tempo wins and advances to the semi-finals."

"You asked for it, Krash." Tempo chuckled.

**(Later…)**

Inferno nervously looked at his opponent, Sandy, as she had a crazed look in her eyes that pretty much told him all he needed to know.

"The last match of round one is Inferno vs. Sandy." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

"Um…You think we can talk about this?" Inferno asked hopefully.

"Does it LOOK like I wanna talk?" Sandy asked as she lashed out with a barrage of swings, each one going in a different direction. Inferno tried his best to block the attacks from the crazed woman but was forced back as he was and ended up losing his footing quickly. Inferno fell off the platform and landed on the ground.

"Sandy wins and advances to the semi-finals."

"Eat it, funkotron!" Sandy laughed.

**(Later…)**

Mel and Reginald looked ready to face off. The two looked confident in their abilities, but also knowing that their opponent could be thinking the same thing.

"The first match of the semi-finals is Mel vs. Reginald." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

The two taller players lashed out at each other, deflecting blows each time. This continued for a bit before Reginald managed to get a sneak shot in and struck the surprised Mel in the torso, although Mel still remained on his platform.

Mel, using one hand to shield her torso, kept blocking blows from the confident Reginald. "You won't win that easily, Reginald!" She shouted.

"I beg to differ." Reginald said as he swung his weapon again, striking Mel in the other side. Because she was favouing her other side, Mel took the full brunt of the attack and was sent toppling off her platform.

"Reginald wins and advances to the finals."

"Now to see who my opponent will be." Reginald said.

**(Later…)**

Sandy and Tempo stood on the platform, Sandy still looking crazed. Needless to say, this was putting Tempo off.

"The final match of the semi-finals is Tempo vs. Sandy." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Sandy acted just like she did against Inferno and let loose a barrage of attacks, which Tempo managed to block for the most part. Tempo also saw that Sandy was easily pushing him towards the edge of the platform.

"Uh…Sandy, we're in the same alliance! There's no need to be this rough!" Tempo insisted.

"Where's the fun in that, though?" Sandy asked in between strikes. "Besides, I wanna fight Reggie in the finals."

Tempo tried to regain his footing, but was unable to do so in the end and fell off his platform, landing flat on his face.

"Sandy wins and advances to the finals."

"You and me, Reggie! You and me!"

"Just fantastic." Reginald muttered.

**(Later…)**

In spite of the crazd and delightful look Sandy was giving him, Reginald remained firm and focused. He had a plan to take out Sandy and he would attempt it.

"The final match is Reginald vs. Sandy." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Sandy quickly attempted her same strategy again, but Reginald blocked the first blow and acted quickly, catching Sandy in the face. While Sandy was stunned, Reginald lashed out again, attempting to strike Sandy in the leg.

Sandy quickly blocked the blow and smirk. "I've got better focus than that, Reggie."

"Reginald!" Reginald shouted as he lashed out again, aiming for Sandy's side. The blow was again blocked. "Stop doing that! I thought you had a strategy of aimless attacking!"

"Sure, but after two rounds, I decided to try something different." Sandy shrugged before clobbering Reginald in the side of the head. Reginald spun around and toppled facefirst off the platform, landing with a dull thud.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Sandy wins Immunity!"

"About freaking time, eh?" Sandy asked herself.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Sandy. You have a one-in-seven shot at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he handed Sandy the Immunity Necklace.

"Thanks a bunch, pally." Sandy nodded.

SSBFreak turned to the other seven players. "Sandy is safe tonight, but I'll be seeing you all at Tribal Council, where another of you will be voted out of the game for the second time." He explained. "I'll give you the rest of the day to make up your minds, so for now, you can all head back to camp."

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_Sandy won Immunity, which means Reginald will be targeting Tempo. I need to make sure the Arkos Alliance is on my side to vote off Erica or else this plan's going to backfire horribly." Grace said. "If Reginald got on the good side of the other alliance, the best I can hope for is a tie."_

"This may be our only chance. Erica's a huge threat and we need to take her out now." Grace said.

"Um…She isn't a physical threat, though." Krash pointed out.

"It doesn't matter about physical prowess, Krash! She's a huge jury threat!"

Krash blinked. "…Prowess? What the heck is that?"

"Guys, I know for a fact that Tempo is Reginald's target since Sandy has Immunity." Grace said. "If you guys vote with me, we can force a tie."

Tempo appeared to be in thought. "Okay. We'll buy it for now, but remember not to double-cross us." He warned.

"_Inferno came to us yesterday and said that he wanted to vote out Reginald. If he's telling us the truth, this gives us a great opportunity." Tempo explained. "We can vote with Grace and take out Erica, or we can vote with the others and eliminate Reginald. It all comes down to who we think is the bigger threat."_

Meanwhile, Erica and Mel were catching up with Inferno, who was relaying his plan to them.

"You went to the others with hopes of voting out Reginald?" Erica asked.

"Think about it. He's liable to flip back and forth between alliances." Inferno said. "Why not take him out now?"

"Well, you've got a point." Mel admitted. "He was always a sneak back in my season."

"_I'm okay with booting Reginald because I think he'd probably turn on us, but part of me's wondering what kind of power that would give Grace." Erica noted. "I mean, two warring alliances of three with a free agent in the middle? She'd use that to her advantage."_

"Are you sure the other alliance will vote with us, though?" Erica asked.

"I'm pretty sure. I think I managed to get through to them." Inferno nodded. "I can't bring this up at council because it would make Reginald know what I'm doing."

"Think we should risk it?" Mel asked Erica.

"I don't know…" Erica replied.

"_Either way, this council's going to be a doozy." Mel said._

**(Tribal Council)**

The eight remaining players walked into Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Finding a spot to sit down, everyone did so as they waited for the council to commence.

"Before we start, let's bring out the current members of our jury." SSBFreak said. "Edwina, Renaldo, Molly and Chloe, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Chloe followed the other jurors into Tribal Council and over to the jury benches. People noticed that she was wearing a simple white shirt and green overalls, showing that she was going to a simple look. The four jury members sat down.

"The jury is only here to witness the outcome of this council. You are not to address them and they will not address you." SSBFreak said before he started to ask questions. "Tempo, you lost your earliest ally last time. How did that make you feel?"

"I'm a little let down. Chloe was the one person I could rely on out here and the others voted her out simply because they voted for me." Tempo admitted. "To me, I don't think that sounds fair."

"It's called eliminating the sidekick in the unbreakable duo." Reginald said in defense.

"I wasn't talking to you, Reggie."

"Don't YOU start, too!"

"I'm glad Tempo feels that way about me." Chloe said with a smile. "He valued my friendship."

"I think he's just trying to butter you up for a vote." Molly folded her arms.

"Sandy, last time we were here, the others cause you to waste your idol. How do you think this will affect your game?" The host asked.

"The biggest second wind we could get was taken from us, plain and simple." Sandy shrugged. "Yeah, it was a smart move, but that just tells me even more that they're all in cahoots with the sand weavals."

"I still say you're pronouncing it wrong." Grace said. "It's supposed to be 'weevils'."

"And I told YOU that the weevils pale in comparison to the weavals!"

"Now I remember why my head hurt a lot while in the game." Renaldo said.

"Reginald, Sandy has Immunity. Do you think she needed it?" The host asked.

"I believe so. The two of us have always been at odds and I would quite frankly love the chance to vote her out." Reginald said. "However, since she's immune, I'll have to go after someone else in her alliance."

"And who would that be?"

"Like I'm going to blab everything." Reginald folded his arms. "I don't want to risk Sandy having another idol."

"Mel, it appears that you and the others are being ignored."

"I wouldn't say that. It's more a case of the others focusing on each other first." Mel explained. "Needless to say, I'm still worried that someone found the idol because we never found it."

"She totally found the idol." Molly muttered.

"Erica, where do you sit on this?"

"Honestly, I don't know. We've got a number of targets to choose from, so it'll be hard to determine which are the bigger threats." Erica explained.

"Krash, how do you think the vote will go?"

"Why do you ask me these tough questions? I don't know." Krash shrugged.

"Krash, none of us do." Tempo pointed out.

Krash blinked a few times. "…Oh."

"Okay. I think that's enough questions. Before we continue, I have to ask." SSBFreak said. "Sandy, you have Immunity. Are you keeping it?"

"Yeppers!"

"With that, Sandy is immune and cannot be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Mel, you're up."

Mel got up and walked out of the hut to go vote. She bit her lip as she contemplated her vote before writing a name down and walking away.

Reginald walked up to the table and scribbled a name down, revealing it. "Don't blame me. Blame Sandy for winning Immunity." He said, having voted for Tempo.

Erica approached the table and scribbled a name down. After thinking it over for a bit, she placed the ballot into the urn and returned to the hut.

Sandy walked up to the table and gave a smirk as she wrote a name down. "This could be good." She admitted.

Grace wrote a name down and turned it, revealing Erica's name. "I hope Sandy and the others come through for me." She said as she voted and walked away.

Krash had a bit of a hard time writing the name on his ballot, but once he decided it was legible, he put the ballot into the urn and returned to the hut.

Inferno wrote a name down and revealed it. "This could either be a blowout or a very close vote." He said, having voted for Reginald.

Tempo was last to vote. He walked up to the table and wrote a name down, deciding not to show it. He simply voted and returned to the hut.

Once all eight people had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. Reginald decided against playing his idol and remained quiet. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Tempo." Tempo narrowed his eyes.

"Reginald." Reginald lifted an eyebrow.

"Reginald." Reginald's eyes widened.

"Reginald. He leads 3-1." Reginald cursed himself, wondering if he should have played his idol.

"…Erica." This took Erica and her alliance by surprise.

"Erica." Erica took a deep breath.

"…Erica. It's 3-3-1." Erica looked extremely-nervous at this point as Reginald looked frustrated. "Last vote, fifth member of the jury and thirteenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Erica. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Erica sighed as she stood up and grabbed her torch while Mel looked devastated. "It's okay. I had a good time." She said as she approached the host.

"Erica, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Erica's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"I enjoyed myself." Erica admitted as she walked out of council and vanished from sight.

Once Erica was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "So ends another council, which has proven that no one is safe until the votes are read. Erica obviously didn't see that coming, and it's clear that some of you are hiding some deep secrets." He admitted. "Seven remain and we're into the last nine days of the competition. Only time will tell which of you will become the Sole Survivor. You can all head back to camp."

The seven players stood up, grabbed their torches and left Tribal Council. Mel brought up the rear, looking downtrodden. Erica was her biggest fan, something she wasn't used to having, and she had just watched her eager fan getting blindsided. Mel wiped her eyes as she started to trail behind the others. This hurt…

"_I'm grateful for the experience and I'm elated to get the chance to play with my favourite players. I didn't make it as far as last time, but I had a great time, ignoring the fact that I had to put up with Kendall for a while." Erica explained. "Now I'm going to be voting for one of those All-Stars and I can't wait to see who's left at the end."_

**Voting History:**

**Erica – Grace, Krash, Sandy and Tempo**

**Reginald – Erica, Inferno and Mel**

**Tempo – Reginald**

Author's Notes: Erica was a very interesting case because she's a vastly different character than the one from the previous season. Still, she was fun to write for in this fangirl mode of hers and I probably wouldn't have cast her again if I wasn't told that she'd have these over-the-top characteristics. I really liked the dynamic Erica had with Mel and I really wish I could have done more with it, but she needed to go here.

**(Ponderosa)**

The limo drove up the mansion's driveway again, this time on a bright, sunny day. The limo parked just outside the front door and opened up as a green-haired girl stepped out and admired the mansion.

"Kinda reminds me of the Ponderosa from my season, only a little bigger." Erica noted. "This is going to be a good week and a half."

"_Yeah, I'm bummed to get voted out, but I made the merge and I get to spend a longer amount of time at Ponderosa. Last time I was only there for a couple of days, but here I'll be getting over a week of vacation time." Erica explained. "I'll admit that there are times where it's good to be a loser."_

Erica opened the front doors to the mansion and walked inside. "Anybody home?" She asked.

"Oh! Erica!" Chloe said as she rushed over. "We weren't expecting you so quickly."

"After the day I had at the spa before I was voted out, the medical staff didn't find anything wrong with me." Erica said.

"Well, now that you're here, what do you want to do?"

"You can lead me to the food, for starters." Erica said. "Is there a games room we can hit after I'm done?"

"Sure! I'll school you in ping pong!"

"_We may have been on opposite alliances, but I really like Erica. I guess maybe it's because she's small and young like me so she's easier to bond with." Chloe shrugged. "It's easier to find something in common when it's with someone your own age."_

"Well, look who it is." Edwina said from the couch as Erica walked over. "Sorry you got the boot like that."

"Eh, it's fine. I get more vacation time now that I'm out." Erica said. "I made it to third place last time, so I didn't get much Ponderosa time."

"I take it you weren't this bubbly version of you, though."

"No. I'm usually pretty anti-social. It's just that I was so star-struck by the fact of me coming onto an All-Star season."

"Considering this is the only version of you we've seen, I can't imagine you in any other form." Renaldo scratched his head.

"_Frankly, I'm glad that Erica got booted. The others were right in voting her out because she's a huge threat that could easily fly under everyone's radars, especially with everything that was happening at camp." Molly said. "I have to wonder who came up with that idea…"_

"Who do you think was in charge of the vote?" Molly asked.

"I'd say Grace, since it was clear that Reginald voted for Tempo." Erica said. "Beforehand, no one in my alliance even came up as possibilities, although Inferno had the last-minute plan to vote against Reginald and thought the other alliance would vote with us."

"And it failed miserably, but that's not unexpected." Molly replied casually.

"Quiet, you." Edwina said.

"_I'm a little sorry for Erica because I could tell that she was really enjoying herself out there. Seeing such a fan getting cut like that was a little heartbreaking." Edwina said. "Then again, looking at Mel's reaction to the vote, I'd bet that things are going to get interesting at camp."_

After Erica had eaten, she and Chloe went to the games room to set up the ping pong table. After getting everything set up, the two girls started playing, hitting the ball back and forth and showing a surprising amount of skill.

"You're good, Erica. None of the others have lasted this long against me." Chloe said. "Usually, I have at least three points on them by now."

"Hey, I've got a genius-level IQ, Chloe. I think I can handle a game of ping pong." Erica smirked.

The game continued for a bit before Chloe finally managed to score a point on Erica. Erica picked up the ball again as Chloe cheered.

"Hey, Erica? My room's got a spare bed in it. Wanna bunk with me?" Chloe asked.

"Sure. I think I'd like that." Erica nodded.

Suddenly, Renaldo opened up the door to the games room and walked in. "Uh…Erica?" He asked.

"Oh. Hi, Renaldo." Erica said.

"Listen. This package arrived here a couple of days ago from Loser's Lodge and we were told to give it to you when you settled in." Renaldo said as he handed Erica a small box the size of a ring box.

"From Loser's Lodge?" Erica said as she opened up the box. Her eyes lit up and she gasped at what was inside.

Inside the box was a lock of blonde hair.

_Erica displayed her necklace, which now had the blonde hair next to the black one. "Anita…Anita sent me a lock of her hair! She must have found out I was a big fan!" She said as she looked ready to break down. "This…This is the best day of my life…"_


	13. Days 31 to 33

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_Well, when considering the various offers we received, we decided to vote out Erica with Grace rather than help Inferno oust Reginald." Tempo said. "The reason was mainly because Erica is indeed a bigger threat and it helped hurt her alliance a bit. I can only guess what the others are feeling like after a vote like that."_

"Grace, we need to talk." Reginald said, looking cross. "I believe I said we needed to vote out Tempo."

"Reginald, Erica was a way-bigger threat than anyone on Sandy's alliance and you know it." Grace replied sharply. "She was nice, well-liked, knew everything about us and, in case you forgot, Mel went right to her after she helped vote out Molly."

"Believe me, Grace. I would have gone after them, but we needed to take down the numbers in the other alliance first to make them less-threatening!"

"A big threat needs to be taken out first." Grace folded her arms.

"_Reginald insists that his way was the right way, but I don't buy it. Look at Sandy's alliance. The only one that's any real threat is Tempo." Grace pointed out. "Seriously, would either of us win if we went to the end with Erica? I don't think so. Heck, Inferno and Mel could handily beat us in the end!"_

"Reginald, you need to accept it. You're just focused on causing as much damage to Sandy's alliance as you can." Grace said.

"That's not my plan, Grace. I'm far-smarter than that." Reginald replied sharply. "While the thought of dealing more damage to Sandy's alliance is an incentive, I'll admit, the game comes first here."

"That's not what I've been seeing." Grace shook her head. "Reginald, if we're going to go to the end together, we need to make sure that we at least work together."

"YOU were the one to vote against me." Reginald reminded.

"Because you kept telling me that it was the best choice, as if I didn't have a choice." Grace said. "Look, we need to stop this. If one of us has an idea or plan, they need to at least remain willing to listen to the plans of the other. Okay?"

Reginald sighed. "Fine, but I'm still convinced that my way was the best way."

"_Grace showed me that she's willing to make her own plans and go off on her own. While others would be liable to get rid of her for double-crossing, she's my only ally left." Reginald said. "I need her and she needs me. If either of us wants to make the finals, we need to stay together. Neither of us can deny it."_

The seven remaining players decided to go to bed, ending another day.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 31)**

Sandy sat down by the fire pit and laughed. "Man! Did you see the look on Reggie's face last night when the votes were read? It was awesome!" She exclaimed.

"You're sounding like you'd just eliminated Reginald." Tempo noted, an eyebrow lifted.

"Where's the fun in that? I'd get bored so easily out here!" Sandy said. "I'd actually be sad if we had to vote out Reggie!"

"_Reggie's always a blast to mess with, although I've seen him getting more-resistant to my antics because he hasn't screamed as much." Sandy said. "That kinda sucks, but then again, it just means that I gotta get a little more creative…"_

"Look out. Blue anime-hair coming up." Sandy pointed out.

Tempo looked over his shoulder and saw Inferno coming over, looking a little disappointed. Tempo sighed and turned around. "I was kinda expecting you, Inferno." He admitted.

"Guys, I came to you with a plan to eliminate Reginald. I was handing you a free pass because Reginald was targeting you!" Inferno said. "Why did you vote against and backstab us like that?"

Tempo sighed. "Well, part of it was because Erica was a huge threat. Secondly, if we had voted out Reginald, we would have been giving Grace too much power." He said.

Inferno lifted an eyebrow. "How do you mean?"

"Seriously, two teams of three against each other with a lone person in the middle?" Tempo asked.

"_Yeah, we had to vote against Inferno despite the tempting offer he gave us, but you know what? I'm okay with that." Tempo shrugged. "I don't want to mention this, but we don't want the other alliance to get power, either. If we don't work on taking them out before they do the same to us, we'll be taken out back-to-back."_

_Inferno sighed. "I was really banking on my pitch to get through to Tempo, but I guess he's too much of a strategizer to think emotionally." He noted. "Now we're down a member and there's still a big schemer in the game that can take the game from us."_

"I think you guys made a mistake." Inferno reminded. "Not only is Reginald still in the game, but Mel's been nothing but depressed since last night."

"Yeah. She's been moping down by the beach all morning." Sandy said, pointing her thumb over her shoulder. "I think I saw my BFF going over there."

Inferno paused. "Wait. Why would Krash go over to talk to her?" He asked.

Sandy shrugged. "It's a free country, isn't it?" She asked.

Mel sat down by the beach, curled into a ball and staring out at the sea. She sighed sadly. "I let her down…" She said. "…I really did."

"_Last night wasn't good for me. Erica just got eliminated, but the fact that she was such a fan of me hurt me more." Mel said. "I mean, I'm not used to having big fans like that, and I was beyond surprised that people like Erica existed, but…Now that she's gone, I can tell that I'm going to miss her."_

"You feeling okay?" Krash asked as he came over.

"…Krash, why did you guys vote out Erica?" Mel asked.

"Hey, it wasn't our idea and I don't really know all the details." Krash insisted. "The idea came from Grace. Why? What's wrong?"

"…Have you ever been in the presence of someone who was a big fan of you?" Mel asked.

"Not really." Krash shrugged as he sat down beside Mel.

"I don't know. It's just that Erica was the first person I've really seen that's such a huge fan of me." Mel sighed. "I just felt like it was my responsibility to make her proud, and then she has to go and get blindsided under my watch."

"Isn't the point of the game to eliminate everyone else, though?" Krash asked, scratching his head.

"Sure, but the elimination still hurt."

"_Mel's real upset by Erica's elimination, not that I really blame her. I mean, Erica really looked up to Mel." Krash pointed out. "Boy, I'm telling ya that I'm glad I didn't come up with the idea to vote Erica out because I'm pretty sure Mel would be getting mad real soon."_

"Well, I'd say that you're pretty depressed about it, right?" Krash said. "Well, I think I know what to do to help."

"You do?" Mel asked.

Krash grinned and held open his arms. "Hug?" He asked.

Mel blinked a few times. Krash continued to stay in his open-armed position. Mel quietly got up and walked off.

"Don't leave me hanging, Mel!" Krash said. "Still waiting! Come on, you know you…You're just…You're just walking away now, aren't you?..." He sighed and dropped his arms. "Great. Now I'M sad."

"_Sad as I may be, I'm not sure if hugging a lizard is going to make me feel better." Mel said._

Krash sulked back over to Tempo and Sandy, who Inferno had recently left to return to the hut. "How'd it go?" Tempo asked.

"She didn't wanna hug me and now her depressing creepiness rubbed off on me." Krash pouted as he plopped down and folded his arms.

"Wanna hug me and feel better?" Sandy asked.

"I wouldn't do it, Krash. She's probably wearing an electric cattle prod to ward off perverts." Tempo joked.

Sandy blinked, then looked at Tempo. "How would you know that? Have you seen me undressed?" She asked.

Tempo paused. "You know what? I shouldn't be surprised anymore."

"_Yeah, I booby-trap my clothes just in case people get too close for my liking. Each of my outfits is rigged with different traps depending on what mood I'm in that day." Sandy said before counting off her fingers. "I've got mousetraps, beartraps, joy-buzzers, a giant boxing-glove-on-a-spring…The list goes on, really."_

"So what's the plan for the next vote?" Krash asked.

"We haven't decided yet." Tempo replied. "We're going to wait and see how things pan out."

"But wouldn't that just give the others more time to think about what to do and take us unprepared?" Krash pointed out.

Tempo appeared to be in thought, but shook his head. "No. Inferno seems dead-set on taking out Reginald and Reginald is focused on us." He explained.

"Well…Okay. If you're sure."

"_Something about this doesn't seem to sit right with me. I mean, if we're not going to strategize about anything, it'll leave us as targets, won't it?" Krash asked, scratching his head. "Is there something to this game that I'm not getting? I'm just getting more and more confused."_

Grace stood on the top of the cliff and watched the interactions from afar. Needless to say, she wasn't liking how things were looking.

"This is going to be harder to manage than I was hoping." Grace admitted.

"_Looks like the fact that I got a vote to go the way I wanted didn't end up at the place I wanted. I saw interactions between the two alliances and Krash ended up going to talk to Mel, likely to comfort her." Grace said. "My goal was obviously to take power away from them, but now I think that it's likely that they may join forces temporarily."_

"Seeing the fruits of your labour at work?" Reginald smirked as he approached from behind.

"I wasn't expecting them to talk to each other like this." Grace said.

"Looks like they may try to join up and take one of us out for real if we don't do something."

"Don't I know it? This isn't looking good."

"_My ace in the hole is my idol, which I can use if Grace and I can convince some of the others to vote with us." Reginald explained. "I only want to use it as a last resort, and I would need to figure out who they're targeting should they decide to gang up on us. At least it'd give us a bit of time to regroup and try again."_

"So what do we do?" Grace asked.

"You seemed to be able to convince Tempo and the others to vote for Erica pretty easily." Reginald replied. "Maybe you can do it again?"

"I could try, but I find it less likely that it would work multiple times." Grace folded her arms.

"It may be all we can do."

Night eventually rolled in and the seven finalists went to bed, knowing that a challenge would soon be upon them.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 32)**

"I think we may be at a disadvantage no matter what we do." Inferno said.

"I know. Either we help the other alliance take out Reginald and still be outnumbered or vote for one of the other alliance and risk letting Reginald join up with them." Mel agreed. "I think we need to just figure out which choice will give us the least amount of damage."

"_Every action that Mel and I take will end up affecting us soon, and most options end in us getting outnumbered." Inferno explained. "I personally would think getting rid of Reginald would be better for us, but that would give the other alliance a huge advantage over us and we don't have the idol."_

"So what do we do?" Mel asked. "I mean, we're both used to situations like this, right?"

"True, and I suppose you've gotten the better of Reginald before." Inferno noted.

"That wasn't me, remember? It was Jonathan."

"Oh, yeah. Forgot about that."

"_The problem with being on a season from five years ago is that people sometimes forget who was responsible for stuff that happened. You may get credited or blamed for something you didn't even do." Mel pointed out._

"We're got treemail." Grace announced as she came into camp with a letter.

"So what're we doing this time?" Tempo asked.

"…Oh, boy. It's asking if we're ready to admit to some potential secrets."

"Wait, what?" Reginald asked, eyes wide. "Can they do that?"

"I can only assume so or else it wouldn't be in the challenge…"

"Wow…This could get real awkward depending on what kind of secrets are told…" Krash said.

"Don't we all know it." Tempo sighed

"_I could have some secrets revealed?! But…How would the crew know about any of my secrets if I didn't mention any when applying?!" Grace asked before pausing. "Unless…Unless they got information from someone we know! Oh, no! This is gonna be bad!"_

**(Reward Challenge)**

The seven players walked out onto another clearing in the middle of the jungle. Seeing their mat, everyone walked over and stepped on.

"Welcome to your next Reward Challenge, N.P.Z.R. Tribe. Here, we will be seeing how truthful you are about some things that you have kept a secret from your fellow competitors." SSBFreak explained. Everyone saw a large TV screen set up near a table behind the host. "We've asked someone that each of you knows to either tell us a secret that you keep or make up a secret that isn't true at all. Everyone except for the person in question will then answer with True or False answers, and the answer must then be verified truthfully by the person in question. Keep in mind that we know which secrets are real and which ones aren't, so don't try lying to put you or your alliance ahead, because lying will result in a point being deducted from your score. Whoever answers the most questions correctly out of six will win Reward, which is a day-long sea cruise around the island, including some stops at a few tropical locations."

"If you'll all come over here, we can decide who's going first."

**(Later…)**

Sandy was up first, sitting in front of the TV screen. The others were ready to show their guesses.

"Okay. For Reward, here is Sandy's so-called 'secret'." SSBFreak as he pushed a button on a remote.

The screen blinked to life, and on the screen was a middle-aged man with stubble and grayish hair, wearing a shirt and tie. He appeared to be a detective of some kind and there was a knife sticking out of his shoulder.

"When Sandy first met Sam & Max, she was almost run over by a car…Sam & Max's Desoto." Flint Paper explained.

Sandy squeed. "Flint Paper! Wow!"

SSBFreak hit the pauses button and turned to the others. "Show your guesses everyone. Is Mr. Flint Paper telling the truth or not?" He asked.

The other six players showed their answers. Krash, Inferno, Tempo and Reginald had guessed true while Grace and Mel had guessed false.

"Sandy, will you answer?" SSBFreak asked.

"It's false. I met Sam & Max while they were in the middle of a high-speed chase while Max was screaming "She'll be Coming Round the Mountain" through a megaphone." Sandy said casually.

SSBFreak blinked. "Okay. Grace and Mel are the only ones to get a point from that and lead with 1."

**(Later…)**

Reginald was next. Needless to say, he wasn't looking very thrilled.

"Okay. Now it's time to see what Reginald's secret is." SSBFreak said as he started the TV again.

The screen turned on, showing a stumpy, rabbit-like creature playing a weird tune on a huge tuba. After a few seconds, the Rabbid noticed that it was being recorded and promptly put the tuba away.

The Rabbid started talking, but all that came out was an incoherent mess of noises and garbles. Luckily, the subtitles were active, which showed 'Reginald used to play accordion in the Rabbid Band'.

"Okay, everyone. Is that the secret?"

The other six players showed their answers. Only Mel and Krash had guessed true.

"Reginald?"

"It's false! I wouldn't be caught DEAD with one of those accursed things!" Reginald snapped.

"Okay. With that, Grace leads with 2, while Reginald and Krash have yet to score and everyone else has 1."

**(Later…)**

Tempo sat in front of the screen, wondering what was going to happen with his secret.

"Okay. Next up is Tempo. Pay close attention."

On the screen next was a dark-haired young man dressed in a blue outfit that looked like he had come from some sort of future setting.

"Tempo's already bought a ring for his girlfriend, but he's just waiting for the right moment to propose." Vent explained.

Tempo's eyes widened as the others showed their answers. Krash, Inferno and Mel said true while Sandy, Reginald and Grace had said false.

"Tempo?"

"…Man. I really wish there was a way to say this that didn't make me look insensitive." Tempo muttered. "It's false."

"Okay. Grace now has 3 points out of 6, while Sandy has 2. Krash is the only one without a point and everyone else has 1."

**(Later…)**

Mel was the next one to go. Mel looked relatively neutral, but still a little uneasy.

"Time for Mel's turn at the stand."

The screen turned on to reveal a familiar white-haired young man (although he now had black streaks in his hair), still dressed in a blue sweater and wearing a pair of futuristic shades. He, like Mel, looked vastly different than he did back in season 1.

"Mel LOVES to prospect for new materials. I've seen her take a metal detector out at least five times a day." Crane said with a smirk.

"Okay, everyone. Show your answers." SSBFreak said.

Krash, Sandy, Inferno and Grace all said true, while Reginald and Tempo were the only ones saying false.

"Mel?"

Mel sighed in relief at the tame question. "That's true." She admitted.

"Grace now has 4 points, Sandy has 3 while Inferno has 2. Krash is now on the board and is tied with Mel, Reginald and Tempo at 1."

"Wow. And I was just guessing." Krash blinked.

**(Later…)**

Grace sighed as she sat in front of the TV and folded her arms.

"Now it's time for Grace's secret."

The screen turned on to reveal a dark-skinned young man with short, black hair. He was dressed up like an athlete and appeared to be relatively well-built.

"Grace had a great career as a cheerleader going before she became a wussy science nerd." Lightning said, arms folded.

Grace muttered something under her breath as the others wrote their answers down. Revealing them, it was shown that Inferno, Tempo and Reginald had said true while Sandy, Krash and Mel had said false.

"Grace?"

Grace sighed. "It's true." She said simply.

"And with that, Grace retains her lead with 4 points and Inferno ties Sandy at 3. Reginald and Tempo have 2 while Mel and Krash have 1."

**(Later…)**

Inferno was the penultimate person to go. He nervously sat in front of the screen.

"Let's see what Inferno's been hiding."

The screen turned on, revealing a young woman with white hair done into a strange, future-like style, dressed in a half-jacket and what looked like a white dress that went to her knees and a futuristic visor over her eyes.

"My big brother's natural hair colour…Is red." The girl said with a smirk.

Inferno sighed as he sat back and the other showed their answers. Sandy and Mel were the only ones that guessed true while the others had guessed false.

"Inferno?"

"That would be true." Inferno relented.

"Okay. Sandy has now tied Grace at 4 points while Inferno has 3. Reginald, Tempo and Mel have 2 while Krash is at 1."

**(Later…)**

Krash was the last one to go. It was also shown that the only ones with tablets to use to show their answers were Grace, Sandy and Inferno.

"Here's where we stand. Grace and Sandy are tied at 4 points, and if one of them gets this last question wrong while the other gets it right, the challenge is over. Inferno needs to hope that both get it wrong while he gets it right to make it a tie while everyone else has no chance to catch up." SSBFreak explained. "Here we have Krash's secret."

The screen turned on one more time, showing an overweight kremling wearing an army helmet and belt. His skin was more of a purpleish-orange as opposed to green like Krash.

"Krash once ate a live grenade that exploded in his stomach." Klump pointed out.

This question caught the others by surprise, but the three remaining players held up their answers. Sandy was the only one with a true while Grace and Inferno had false.

"Krash?"

"That was true." Krash said.

"And with that, the challenge is over!" SSBFreak said. "Sandy has scored the most points and wins Reward!"

"Awesome!" Sandy cheered.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Sandy. You can enjoy the day-long cruise and have as much fun as you want." SSBFreak said. "In addition, you can take someone else with you."

"I'll take Krash, thanks." Sandy said.

"Sounds like fun." Krash said as he walked over.

"Normally, I'd say that this would be where you head back to camp, but I'll show you guys a little something extra." SSBFreak said before looking off to the side. "Come on out!"

Seven new figures entered the clearing, the same ones that had just mentioned the secrets about the contestants. "We've decided to bring out the people coming to visit you and ask them the questions here." SSBFreak said.

"We have Flint Paper, from Sam & Max." The hard-boiled detective gave a wave to the squeeing Sandy.

"A Rabbid from Raving Rabbids." A lone Rabbid waddled along, sliming dumbly. Reginald muttered something under his breath.

"Vent, one of the leads from Megamaz ZX." Vent gave a nod to Tempo as he walked over to join him.

"Crane, Mel's boyfriend from season 1." Mel looked extremely-pleased to see Crane again.

"Lightning, the jock from Total Drama." Lightning struck a pose, hoping to get Grace to blush. He got no such reaction.

"Inferno's little sister, who calls herself 'Logic'." The white-haired girl gave a wave to Inferno, who waved back.

"And General Klump, from Donkey Kong Country." Krash gave a respective salute as the overweight general came over, acknowledging Krash.

"Okay. Because Sandy won the Reward and is bringing Krash with her, Flint Paper and Klump will be going with them." SSBFreak said. "As for the rest of you, you can head back to camp and enjoy the day with your visitors. I'm sure you have a lot to catch up on."

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_Sandy won Reward, but I feel okay with that because we've all got the special guests with us, and I've got my boyfriend Crane." Mel said. "You know what? I've had a rough couple of days, and it'll feel good having someone different to talk to and tell about all of this."_

"Wow. Sounds like she was a real big fan of you." Crane said as the two sat down at the beach.

"I know. That's why it kind of hurt to see her go like that." Mel sighed.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Mel. I mean, it's not like she'd think any less of you, right? She's still your biggest fan."

"I know, I know."

"So…How exactly was Barney the first representative from our season to get the boot here?" Crane asked. "I was expecting him to at least do better than Reggie and Elias."

"He got ejected from the game for punching someone's lights out." Mel replied.

"Whoa, really?"

"And it was serious enough that the guy he punched out needed to be med-evaced as well."

_Crane sat in front of the camera and looked around. "Been a while since I've done one of these…Anyway, I'm glad that Mel's made it this far. Just shows that she's just as strong a player as she was back then." He said. "Still, I can tell that it hasn't been easy, so hopefully she can get a chance at a break with the guests around to keep everyone busy."_

Meanwhile, Inferno was having a talk with his sister, who was tall enough to stare into his collarbone.

"I can't believe that you told them all what my real hair colour was, sis." Inferno moaned.

"I don't see what the problem is." Logic shrugged before smirking. "Besides, it could have been worse. I could have told them what your real NAME was."

Inferno blinked. "You wouldn't…"

Logic grinned maliciously. "You really think that…Ralph?"

"S-SUE!"

"_I love teasing my bro like that, and it's not like his real name is any real secret back home. I mean, the other riders call him Inferno all the time despite knowing his real name." Logic smirked. "…That I revealed to DJ Atomika, after which he broadcast live to the rest of the gang."_

"_How the heck am I supposed to be taken seriously as a snowboarder if I used a real name like that? I needed some kind of nickname." Inferno said. "Of course, shortly after I did that, Susan did the same thing and came up with her 'Logic' persona, likely just to mess with me even more."_

"Wait. RALPH?" Grace asked as she came over. "Your real name is RALPH?"

"Look at what you did, Sue!" Inferno accused. "You weren't supposed to say it!"

"Too late now, isn't it?" Logic smirked.

"Inferno, it's no big deal." Grace assured. "Actually, I was just wondering something. Why, exactly, does your sister call herself 'Logic'?"

Inferno sighed. "We both nicknamed ourselves based on song titles that involved our favourite music styles." He said before pointing at himself. "…'Disco Inferno'…" He pointed at Logic. "…'Techno-Logic'…"

Grace blinked. "…That's terrible."

Lightning came over from the other side, looking at Logic. "Sha-BAM! Look at this fine honey over her!" He said. "You wanna piece of the Lightning, babe? I gotta warn you that I may be too hot to handle."

Lightning pulled a couple of poses as Logic looked at Grace. "Is he for real?" She asked.

"You have no idea." Grace said flatly.

"_Something Lightning neglected to mention was that he was the main reason I quit being a cheerleader in the first place. That big-headed ape hit on me every time he saw me in uniform and I was seriously THIS close from decking him a few times before I called it quits just to get away from him." Grace said, looking not amused._

"Come on, baby. You know you want Lightning." Lightning said, trying to sound seductive (and failing horribly).

"Dude, back off. She may be a pest, but she's still my little sister." Inferno said before Logic held out an arm.

"It's okay, bro. I know exactly how to handle this." Logic said.

Inferno smirked. "Just like JP?"

"Just like JP." Logic nodded.

Lightning lifted an eyebrow. "Who's JP?"

That was when Logic thrust her foot out and delivered a kick directly to Lightning's crotch. Lightning's eyes widened in pain as he slowly collapsed on himself in a whimpering heap.

"…Sha-Owwww…"

Grace couldn't stop herself from laughing as she looked at Inferno. "I LOVE your sister." She said.

Inferno chuckled. "So do I."

**(Ocean)**

"WOO-HOO!" Sandy cheered from the front of the boat as it zoomed along the ocean. "…I think I just swallowed a bug and I don't even CARE!"

"Don't stay out there too long, Sandy!" Flint Paper called out. "There's only so far this boat will go at this speed!"

Klump looked a little weirded out at Sandy's antics. "Ah'm a little stumped at how she's lasted this long." He noted. "Is she always like this?"

"You get used to her. I sometimes bring her along on cases if I need a little extra wanton destruction." Flint shrugged.

Krash blinked, then pointed out the obvious. "Um…You have a knife stuck in your shoulder, Mr. Paper." He said.

"Yes…Yes, I do."

"Doesn't that hurt?"

"It tickles a little bit, yeah."

"_I'm wondering why that Flint Paper guy has a knife stuck in his shoulder and he doesn't seem to do anything about it. I mean, he won't let us take it out and he seems to be able to reach it on his own." Krash said. "Why won't he just take it out?"_

Sandy jumped back into the area of the boat where the others were and sat down. "Nothing like a refreshing sea breeze to wake you up!" She said.

"So how goes the game, Sandy?" Flint asked.

"Great! I'm having fun and I'm still able to prank that Reggie guy I told you about." Sandy replied before turning to Krash. "But first things first. Tell me how you ate a live grenade, Krash!"

"It looked and tasted like an ORANGE!" Krash insisted. "The General here eats them all the time!"

"It's true. Those things are grenades, but they're oranges as well. They explode in your stomach, but it ain't enough to do any lasting damage." Klump assured.

"That reminds me of something else, Klump." Sandy said. "Are you guys from the games or the cartoon?"

Klump blinked. "Um…What?"

"Oh, come on! You even have the same voice as the cartoon Klump! You GOTTA be the same one!"

"I still don't know what she's talking about, sir." Krash said.

_Klump sighed and lowered his helmet over his eyes. "Those were…Those were DARK days for us all…" He lamented. "I'm surprised any of us survived…"_

Night eventually rolled in. the seven players and their guests ended up going to bed.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 33)**

Vent yawned and rubbed his head. "I'm not used to sleeping in these conditions." He said. "…Or getting up that early, for that matter." He glanced at Tempo. "Why did we wake up that early, again?"

"It's early for us, too. Reginald's visitor is the reason we all got up." Tempo said.

Meanwhile, the Rabbid was playing its tuba again, playing the same upbeat (and very loud) tune from the challenge. Reginald, sitting beside him, held his ears in annoyance.

"Of all the brainless dunces that were available, they HAD to bring the accursed TUBA PLAYER!" Reginald screamed. "Can't you play anything ELSE, you simpleton?!"

The Rabbid either didn't hear Reginald or just ignored him, as he continued playing the song, which repeated after only a few seconds of playing.

Tempo and Vent watched from afar and blinked a few times. "Man, am I glad I'm not Reggie." Tempo said.

"Ditto." Vent said. "So how about you tell me what the plan is?"

"_Vent is someone that I can talk to about what to do. Yeah, he's a little young, but he knows what he's talking about. I feel that I could use a pointer or two because I think I'll be up a creek pretty soon if I don't do something." Tempo said._

"_Tempo told me about what's been going on, and I think the people that need to be taken care of first are the two schemers off to the side." Vent noted, arms folded. "I mean, they're in the perfect position and everything."_

"Hmm…How about this. If you three were to join up with the other two and take out the schemers, who do you think should go first?" Vent asked.

Tempo appeared to be in thought. "Probably…Grace." He explained. "Plus, Mel would likely be willing to join us since Grace was the one that spearheaded Erica's elimination."

"Then there you have it. It's a good chance that the others will join you in it as well." Vent said.

"I suppose it's worth a shot." Tempo nodded.

"Hey, guys. We've got treemail." Inferno said.

"Freaking FINALLY." Reginald said as he got up and walked away from the Rabbid. The Rabbid, still obnoxiously playing the tuba, followed him.

"Wait." Inferno said as he looked around. "Where are Mel and Crane?"

"Still making out on the beach, I believe." Grace replied.

"Remember that that coulda' been us, babe." Lightning said. "You coulda had all this Lightning to yourself, but you just HAD to become a wuss."

Grace narrowed her eyes. "I BELIEVE I have a restraining order." She said.

_Lightning pouted. "Man. I dunno what Grace is thinking. She had everything going her way and she decided to just quit." He said. "And if she thinks a stupid little piece of paper is gonna do anything to stop me, she can think again."_

"It's wondering if we can stay within a line." Inferno said after Mel and Crane had finally come over.

"Doesn't sound too bad." Mel shrugged. "I guess we should head out."

"It'll be without us, though." Logic said. "The guests can't go to the challenge, so we're going another way."

"Seriously? The visit's over?" Inferno asked.

"Yeah. We can't stay." Crane said. "We'll be cheering for you, though."

The guests bid farewell to the castaways and departed from camp. After they were gone, the contestants walked off in another direction, towards the challenge.

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The five players from camp walked onto another clearing after leaving the jungle. Seeing their mat on the ground, everyone stepped on.

"Before we start, let's bring back Sandy & Krash, who are returning from their Reward," SSBFreak said as the two players in question walked in from the side.

"The trip was awesome!" Sandy said as she and Krash joined the others to make seven people again.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, N.P.Z.R. Tribe. Here, we will be testing your ability to stay within a line within a time limit." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw a line of seven walls behind him, each with a dotted line going down it. "Your goal is to take a provided marker and draw a line down the dotted line on your wall. These dotted lines aren't straight in the slightest, and have multiple different complex patterns that will be hard to maneuver. Your goal is simple; Stay as close to the dotted line as possible and still finish the course within the two-minute timeslot that we're providing. The person that is closest to the dotted line for the most time will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

"If you'll all follow me, we can begin."

**(Later…)**

The seven players each stood at the start of one of the walls, armed with a marker. The players held their markers close to the dotted line and looked ready to begin.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready…" SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

The seven players got to work and started tracing along the dotted lines as best as they could. It was clear right off the bat that Krash was having difficulty keeping his marker straight, as the line he was making was wobbly and frequently stepped off the dotted line.

"This is, like, the WORST challenge for me." Krash said aloud.

The others looked relatively stable with their hands, although people indeed strayed from the line slightly before they were able to get back on course. The group reached the end of the straight line rather quickly and started a descent towards a spiral on the wall.

"Going around a spiral's going to be tricky." Reginald muttered.

Mel's hand wavered a bit as she went down the descent, but managed to stay within the dotted line as best as she could. "I thought I could ace a challenge like this." Mel muttered to herself.

The group managed to make it to the bottom of the descent at close to the same time and went to work on the spiral. As Reginald predicted, the spiral was where people started running into problems, as it was hard to go up, around and backwards all at the same time for some. Because of this, people were starting to notice that their markers were leaving the dotted line a little more often than they would have liked, but everyone tried to keep their hands as steady as possible.

Grace reached the center of the spiral and exhaled. "Okay. Halfway done this obstacle." She said as she started working her way back out of the spiral, going along another dotted line.

"This challenge is so boring." Sandy whined, but she put up with it for now.

"Stay with it, Sandy. I don't want you quitting another challenge." SSBFreak said.

"It's not my fault your challenges are so boring!"

The contestants continued to work at the challenge, Krash starting to fall behind due to his slow pace and wavering hand. Reginald and Inferno looked to be neck-and-neck, but they were trying to be as precise as possible and looked like they too were starting to fall behind the others.

Currently, the player in the lead was Tempo, and he looked comfortable with the steadiness of his head. Even though the marker occasionally left the line, Tempo managed to remain firm and kept pressing on, unaware that Mel was approaching him in pace.

Finally, Tempo managed to make it to the end of the spiral line. He moved onto the next line obstacle, which looked like a set of stairs going up. Tempo started to work his way up the line.

"How is my hand sweating so much?" Tempo muttered to himself as he struggled to maintain his steady head.

Inferno was coming to the end of the spiral, still trying to be as precise as possible. "Almost there…" He said as he finally made his way around the last curve and continued on his way. "Finally. That took way longer than it should have."

"Guys, you've got one minute to finish the rest of the challenge." SSBFreak announced.

Krash, in the meantime, was still around the middle of the spiral. "I've gotta be losing pretty bad at this point." He moaned.

Mel reached the top of the staircase obstacle quickly, having picked up the pace when told that there was only a minute left. "Okay. One more obstacle and…" She said before she saw what the obstacle was.

It was the word 'Survivor' written in elegant handwriting, and the dotted line made up the word in its entirety.

"How the heck am I supposed to do this?!"

"You're supposed to go faster, Mel." SSBFreak smirked.

"That'll throw off my steadiness!"

"Exactly."

Tempo, having opted not to make a scene, decided to tough it up and start work on the word. He quickly moved his way through the big S and started work on the small letters.

"Shouldn't be too hard. It's just like writing a signature." Tempo muttered.

Grace and Reginald were working on the staircase obstacle, although it appeared that Grace had a bit of a quicker pace going than Reginald did and was starting to pull away from him. Obviously, neither of them knew this since they had a wall separating them.

Grace reached the top of the staircase first and looked ahead. "Looks like it's just the handwriting part left." She said.

Tempo suddenly made it to the end of the course and removed his marker from the wall. "That's it! I'm done!" He said.

"Tempo is finished, but the challenge will keep going until the two minutes are up." SSBFreak explained.

A few seconds later and Mel finished as well. The dark-haired woman pulled her marked from the wall and wrung her hand out. "My hand's sweating so much from that…"

The clock continued to count down for the remaining players. Krash was too far-back to have a hope of finishing and Sandy was simply doodling on the wall instead of trying to finish the challenge.

This left Inferno, Grace and Reginald as the only ones with a chance, and all three were working on the final obstacle. By the time Inferno had reached the middle of the word, Grace had nearly finished, and with but seconds to spare, she completed the task.

"Grace is done. There are just ten seconds left…Nine…"

Reginald and Inferno quickly picked up the pace, trying to at least get to the end of the word so that they would be counted. Inferno managed to complete the word first and did it with only three seconds to spare. Reginald was unable to finish the word in time.

"Time's up! Stop what you're doing!" SSBFreak said. "The people that completed the challenge are Tempo, Mel, Grace and Inferno, so they will be the only ones counted."

"No way! I was so close to being done!" Reginald said.

"Sorry, Reginald. Rules are rules."

**(Later…)**

"Okay. The crew has reviewed and compared each of the counted lines and has determined which of them was closest to the dotted line for the most time." SSBFreak announced. "It was close, but we indeed have our winner…"

The seven players waited in anticipation, wondering who had won.

"The winner of the challenge…" SSBFreak said. "…And one with the closest line…Was Mel!"

Mel exhaled in relief. "Really?" She asked.

"Mel wins Immunity!" SSBFreak said. He handed Mel the Immunity Necklace. "Congratulations on winning Immunity, Mel. You have a one-in-six shot at winning the game."

"I'm sure it was close." Mel nodded.

SSBFreak looked at the others. "Mel is safe tonight, but I'll be seeing all of you at Tribal Council, where another will be voted out of the game. You all know what's going to happen and when I'll expect you at council by this point, so you can all head back to camp."

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"You guys are wanting to vote out Grace first?" Inferno asked.

"I think she's a bigger threat than Reginald." Tempo said. "If we can take her out first, then Reginald will be easy pickings."

"I suppose that's a good point." Mel nodded.

"So we're taking out Grace first and then we get Reginald next time?" Krash asked.

"Yeah. That's the plan." Tempo said.

"I'm okay with leaving Reggie alone for a bit because it gives me more chances to mess with him. Taking out his sidekick would make for an awesome reaction from him." Sandy smirked.

"_Reggie and I have been at odds since the start, and by that I mean that I've enjoyed having some laughs at his expense." Sandy said. "But I think I'm still ready to have some more fun, so leaving him in the game for a bit longer will help with that."_

"Sounds like a plan." Inferno said.

"Good to hear." Tempo nodded.

Inferno and Mel walked off, but when they were alone, Reginald approached them.

"I was hoping I could talk to you two about the vote." Reginald said. "I'd like to pitch the idea to vote out Sandy."

"Why would we join you and Grace when we know you're liable to stab us in the back?" Mel asked.

"Because the other alliance outnumbers you, that's why." Reginald said. "You help eliminate Grace and I and that will automatically put you at a disadvantage."

"_I'm going to try and see if I can work the vote to keep myself from playing my idol. If I can bring up the fact that Inferno and Mel are outnumbered, then they're more-likely to join me temporarily." Reginald said. "If I don't see the vote going the wall I like, I'll use the idol, though."_

"Think about it, but I encourage you two to vote with us this time." Reginald said. "You need to bring down the numbers of the other alliance to survive."

With that, Reginald left the two and returned to Grace, who was sitting by the shelter.

"Do you think they'll vote with us?" Grace asked.

"For your sake, I'd hope so." Reginald said. "I bet you're the other target."

"I still don't see why I couldn't go over and talk to them myself." Grace said.

"Because you helped vote out Erica. Mel didn't like that."

Grace sighed. "You're right."

"_I've got a lot riding on this vote, because if Inferno and Mel don't come through for me, then I'm gone." Grace admitted. "It's frustrating having your fate out of your hands, but at the moment, I don't have a choice."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The seven players walked into Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Seeing the decreasing number of seats available, everyone sat down.

"Before we begin, let's bring out the current members of the jury." SSBFreak said. "Edwina, Renaldo, Molly, Chloe and Erica, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Erica followed the rest of the jury into council. People noticed that she was wearing a green shirt, jeans and black wristbands, like Anita did back in season two. They also saw that she was wearing a necklace that had a lock of blonde hair beside the lock of black hair she already had. The five jury members sat down.

"The jury is only here to see the outcome of council. You are not to address them and they won't address you." SSBFreak said before he started asking questions. "Mel, you seemed to have a bond with Erica. How did you feel when she was booted last time."

"It hit me hard. I guess it's part of me being amazed that I had such a devoted fan, and then letting her down by letting her get blindsided like that." Mel said.

"She was in such a slump until Crane came along." Tempo smirked.

"That may be, but it's because I felt so down about it." Mel said.

"That brings up another question. Reginald, did you enjoy your guest visit?" SSBFreak asked.

Reginald stared flatly. "Is that a trick question? I hate every single one of those brain-dead degenerates and you decide to bring the Rabbid that plays the obnoxious TUBA non-stop?!" He asked.

"None of the Rabbids were named and the tuba-player was the biggest stand-out of Rabbids Go Home." SSBFreak shrugged.

"That reminds me. Why did you bring Lightning?" Grace asked. "That self-centered, cocky ape did nothing but stalk me in school!"

"We were told that Lightning knew you the best." SSBFreak scratched his head.

"You didn't find out exactly HOW he knew me the best, right?" Grace asked, eyes narrowed. "Like I said, he STALKED me!"

"Sounds like we missed a lot." Renaldo pointed out.

"Sandy, same question. How did you like the guest visit?" SSBFreak asked.

"It was awesome. Flint Paper may not be as high on my list as Sam & Max, but he's still awesome. He's like the Chuck Norris of the Sam & Max world." Sandy said. "It was great to see a familiar face like that, because it felt good to catch up on all the rampant acts of mayhem that Sam & Max have been causing while I've been away."

"It's so easy to see her fitting in where she comes from." Molly rolled her eyes.

"Inferno, how do you think the vote tonight will go?"

"I don't know. I mean, it could really go either way." Inferno said. "Mel and I have received a couple of offers and we don't know which way sounds better to take at the moment."

Tempo seemed surprised at this news. "I take it this has to do with you, Tempo?" SSBFreak asked.

"I can only assume so. I mean, my alliance struck a deal with Inferno and Mel, but it looks like Reginald and Grace just did the same." Tempo said. "They need to determine which side will help them more, and we're less-likely to stab them in the back."

"Grace, how do you take that remark?"

"While I'll admit that Reginald and I don't seem as trustworthy, do Inferno and Mel really think they can survive if they take us out first and leave the alliance of three alone?" Grace asked. "If you ask me, I think it's a stupid idea."

"This could get to be interesting." Molly smirked, looking intent on watching council for once.

"Krash, is joining up against your alliance a smart idea?"

"I don't know. I mean, it sounds good on paper, but if you leave the people that are scheming in the game, don't you run the risk of giving them the chance to backstab you later?" Krash shrugged. "Why wait until later when you can do it now?"

"Okay, I think that's enough questions." SSBFreak said. "Before we continue: I have to ask. Mel, you have Immunity. Are you going to give it to someone?"

"No. I'll keep it."

"With that, Mel is immune and cannot be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Krash, you're up."

Krash got up and walked out of the hut to go vote. Arriving at the table, he wrote a name down and placed the ballot into the urn before walking back.

Mel appeared to be in thought as she approached the table. Making up her mind, Mel wrote a name down and voted, leaving without guessing again.

Tempo walked up to the table, not looking as confident as he was before. Nevertheless, he wrote a name down and put it into the ballot box before walking back.

Grace wrote a name down and turned it, revealing Sandy's name. "Reginald wants you out before you kill him." She said as she voted and walked away.

Inferno scribbled a name down. "I hope this is the right choice." He said as he put his ballot into the urn and walked back to the hut without another word.

Sandy approached the table and wrote a name down. "You're a bigger threat than Reggie, and I won't have any fun messing with you." She said having voted for Grace.

Reginald was smirking as he wrote a name down. "Maybe I don't have to play my idol." He mused. "I wonder if I should risk it…"

Once all seven players voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. Reginald took a moment to consider playing his idol, but decided against it. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Sandy." "Thanks, Reggie."

"Sandy." Sandy remained silent.

"…Grace" Grace bit her lip.

"Sandy. It's 3-1." Krash was looking nervous at this point.

"…Grace." The two exchanged glances.

"Grace. We're tied at 3." The council was silent. "Final vote, sixth member of the jury and fourteenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Sandy. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

"Aww…" Krash whined as Sandy stood up.

"It's okay. It was just as fun as I had hoped." Sandy shrugged as she grabbed her torch and walked over to the host.

"Sandy, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Sandy's torch. "It's time for you to go."

Sandy stood at the exit to council and turned around. "Sandy…AWAY!" She said as she leapt backwards and hurled herself out of council. Everyone heard a loud and painful crash. "…I'm okay!" Sandy called back.

SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "Another council is over and another has fallen. It's clear that the last thing some people want is an alliance having too much power, because that seems to have been a factor in the vote tonight." SSBFreak said. "There are six of you left and less than a week left in the competition. The finale is right around the corner and it's now time to decide who you want in the finals with you. You can all head back to camp."

The six remaining players stood up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. Krash brought up the rear, looking a little depressed. Sandy was a good friend of his and now she had just been blindsided out of the game. The last time he played, he was the first of his alliance to go, but now that he was surviving the votes, he had to see his friends go instead…

"_I loved playing again and I don't have any problems with my game, which was mainly just to have as much fun as I could." Sandy said. "It's been a while since I played this game, and this experience has left me wanting to make my own version of Survivor and base it in the streets of Manhattan back home; As you know, it's a chore to survive there anyway! Ciao!"_

**Voting History:**

**Sandy – Grace, Inferno, Mel and Reginald**

**Grace – Krash, Sandy and Tempo**

Author' Notes: And Sandy has officially left the building. As always, I had a blast writing for her and her interactions with Reginald were some of the highlights for me this season. I always knew that she didn't have a chance at winning (did she ever?), but Sandy did what she had to.

I know people were probably more-annoyed with her this time. That's one of the reasons I decided to throw Reginald a bone here and let him finally vote her out.

**(Ponderosa)**

The limo drove wildly up the driveway to the mansion, coming to a screeching halt just short of hitting the front porch. The door to the driver's seat opened up and out stepped a grinning Sandy.

"Thanks for letting me drive, mac! I knew I could get here faster!" Sandy said to the driver in the cab.

"…I think I'm gonna be sick…" The driver moaned as Sandy shut the door and walked to the mansion.

"_Am I upset that I got the boot? Meh, I'm not as bummed as I thought I'd be, so I guess that's something. I had fun and now I get to relax at this awesome mansion until the game's done!" Sandy said. "I've got a little more time to enjoy it as well since last time I was only there for a few days."_

"Alright, peoples! Let's get this party started!" Sandy announced as she entered the mansion.

"Look who finally got the boot." Molly said with a smirk. "Frankly, I'm amazed it took that long."

"Look who's talking miss got-eliminated-just-after-the-merge." Sandy smirked back as she walked by on the way to the kitchen. "Hey! Eats!"

Molly pouted as Edwina walked up to her. "You really brought that one on yourself." She said.

"Shut. Up."

"_I'll never be able to live it down that I let someone with no gameplan whatsoever outlast me, but at least Sandy's finally out." Molly said. "The fact that I'm sure a lot of people here would have voted for her quite frankly sickens me."_

"So what do you think happened, Sandy?" Chloe asked as Sandy sat down and started eating. "I mean, all four of us were still I the game not too long ago and now it's just Krash and Tempo out there."

"Eh, I've heard that it's because we were threats because we were all still together." Sandy shrugged. "Personally, I think the sand weavals use their mind-controlling abilities to make people vote against my alliance."

"Sure. Blame the sand weavals. It's not like the others didn't see you as a threat." Molly mused.

"Which they totally didn't, by the way." Renaldo interjected.

"Yeah. That raises another question. Tempo's obviously the bigger threat in the alliance, and he didn't even have Immunity." Erica said. "Why wouldn't the others go for him instead?"

"Part of me's thinking it's because Reginald just wanted the satisfaction of outlasting Sandy." Edwina said.

"_It's clear that Sandy tended to single out Reginald for her pranks, and that would have made anyone snap eventually." Edwina said. "I think Reginald just wanted to get Sandy out of the way now so she'd be out of his hair and he could continue on with the rest of the game."_

"So, now that I'm done eating, what is there to do around here?" Sandy asked.

"There's a big pool out back if you wanna go for a swim later, but considering that you just ate, I'm not sure if that's a good idea." Chloe said.

"Nah, I'm fine to go for a swim now. Let me get changed and we'll go out for a swim." Sandy assured as she raced to the restroom, grabbing her suitcase on the way.

"She's totally going to pay for her decision soon." Erica said.

"And I'm sure she knows it as well and doesn't even care." Molly rolled her eyes.

"_Seriously, you can't get any more carefree than Sandy. She reminds me a bit like Gary, except with a loose grasp on reality and the desire to go about things in the most-destructive way possible." Erica noted. "I guess that's why people like her though, because she HATES the strategy that everyone seems to talk about."_

Opting not to go for a swim with the others, Edwina and Renaldo sat by the pool while the others were in the water. Molly was relaxing in the water off to the side while Sandy appeared to be having fun with Chloe and Erica.

"So…Who do you think's going to be eliminated next?" Edwina asked.

"What do you mean?" Renaldo asked.

"With Sandy out, it's essentially a 2 vs. 2 vs. 2 scenario." Edwina explained.

"Hmm…Yeah. I suppose that the two alliances could easily gang up on Reginald and Grace now, though." Renaldo said.

"Would they, though?" Edwina asked. "Inferno and Mel just helped eliminate Sandy, after all."

"That may be, but who was responsible for the elimination?"

"_The way I'm seeing it, Reginald and Grace appear to be playing everyone while they sit aside and coast through with no real obstacles." Renaldo said. "Sure, Grace was almost eliminated back there, but you can't deny that these vote-offs are their doing."_

"So…Who's going next?" Edwina checked again.

"At this point, it could be anyone." Renaldo said.

"Yeah. That's for sure."


	14. Days 34 to 36

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_That was extremely-satisfying. It's taken almost two full seasons, but I managed to finally outlast Sandy." Reginald said. "I've been waiting a long time to be able to say that I finally got the last laugh."_

"Are you happy, now?" Grace asked.

"I'm getting there. This was a very big step, I'll admit." Reginald nodded.

"Good, because we're still not in a very good situation." Grace reminded. "It may be three teams of two at this point, but what's stopping the others from ganging up on us and taking us out?"

"Would they consider us big threats?" Reginald question.

"We didn't consider SANDY a threat. Didn't stop HER from going."

"_We're really not in that great a position, but then again, I don't think there was any way we could have pulled a true victory out of last night." Grace sighed. "No matter how the vote went, we'd still end up in a bad situation."_

Meanwhile, Krash was looking a little depressed as he sat by the fire pit. Tempo sat there as well, but appeared to be brooding.

"This isn't good." Tempo mused. "We started out so well, too…"

"I'm gonna miss Sandy." Krash sighed.

"Krash, it's just the two of us now, alright?" Tempo said. "Even though we may have to join forces with others, the only people we can rely on now are each other, okay?"

Krash paused, then nodded. "Okay."

"_We came into the merge with all four members of our alliance. A few votes later and it's just Krash and I left." Tempo noted. "This is definitely an inconvenience for us, but on the bright side, Krash will be loyal. He's the one person remaining that I have no doubts about how he'll vote, which is however his alliance votes."_

"So what do we do?" Krash asked. "I mean, it's two on two on two, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but anything can happen." Tempo replied. "We need to join a temporary alliance with another of the two alliances."

"But then that would give the remaining person more power, right?"

"Then we just need to hope there's a surprise double-boot."

"_Man. I've never actually lasted this long. I'm actually worried about how things are going to go from here on in." Krash admitted. "Actually, I've felt that way ever since Chloe got eliminated. At this point, I need to hope we can at least win Immunity…"_

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 34)**

"Well, taking down the other alliance's numbers may have helped us, what should we do now?" Mel asked. "I mean, will Tempo and Krash still join us to take out Reginald and Grace?"

"I hope so. I can pitch the idea to Tempo that we can have a two on two final four and settle things with a tiebreaker then." Inferno shrugged.

"I'm not sure if Tempo seems the type to go through with an idea like that, though…"

"_We're in the final six. Inferno and I are the only ones left that have lasted this long before, and we know how most of the others work." Mel explained. "The only one we still don't know how to read fully is Tempo, and Krash will likely vote however Tempo does, so Inferno and I are left wondering if we can actually get their votes."_

"Man. Suddenly I reminded of the things I didn't like about Survivor." Mel sighed. "I just wish I could be back home, doing I.T. support for Mayor Rosalyn and the rest of the non tech-savvy people in my town."

Inferno sighed back. "I know. What I wouldn't give to watch Psymon ricochet off the side of a cliff, blind Moby in snow and send him careening over the edge of the mountain again." He added.

Mel blinked. "You guys have really strange ways to have fun." She said.

"You're a fine one to talk, Miss Build-everything-with-fruit-and-gingerbread-men." Inferno smirked. "Seriously. Do you have ANYTHING to do your town?"

"Hey, we can't all be thrill-seeking, death-defying snowboarders." Mel shrugged. "Besides, we HAVE a Dance Club, something I doubt even YOU have access to on the side of a mountain."

"I frequent five and DJ at two more."

"Um…Ice Cream Parlour?"

"My sis likes to go to one with Kaori all the time."

"Museum?"

"Do I really look like the kind of guy that would frequent a museum?" Inferno asked.

Mel sighed. "You win."

"Believe me. On the SSX Tour, there's a LOT going on."

"_She had no chance from the start. Anything her town has that I don't have access to I wouldn't really take advantage of anyway." Inferno shrugged. "Seriously, I'll take a fifty-foot jump leading to a triple-backflip over a trip to a museum any day of the week."_

Krash was hauling a big fish onto the shore after another successful fishing attempt. Krash stood over the fish for a few seconds to take some breaths before picking it up.

"This one took a lot out of me." Krash admitted. "Is it just me or are these fish getting tougher to catch with each day?"

"They've been putting up with you, Sandy and Chloe fishing for them for a month now." Reginald said as he came over with a smirk. "Looks like you caught a big one, though."

"Yeah. Since there's only six of us, this'll feed us pretty good." Krash nodded. "What'd ya need, Reggie?"

Reginald stared flatly. "Don't let Sandy rub off on you, Krash. I'll ignore it this time since I need to say something." He explained.

"_When I see Krash, I see someone who loyally follows whoever he's close to. For the entire contest, that was Sandy." Reginald explained. "If I can coerce Krash into joining Grace and I, we'll gain the advantage. I think I can do it since Krash is obviously not the sharpest knife in the drawer."_

"Look, I know you've been relying on Sandy for the contest, and now that she's gone, you need someone to rely on, right?" Reginald asked.

Krash shrugged. "I've still got Tempo. We're relying on each other now." He explained.

"None of us know anything about Tempo, though." Reginald reminded. "Krash, who's to say that he's secretly planning to backstab you the instant he feels he doesn't need you anymore?"

"I think he's had more than enough chances to backstab the alliance and he never took any of them." Krash said. "I trust him."

Reginald paused. "Krash, I'm just looking out for you here." He explained. "Something about him just doesn't sit right with me."

"Are you're any different?"

_Krash sighed, eyes in a flat stare. "Okay, Reginald was obviously trying to prey on my intelligence. Even I'M aware of that." He explained. "Seriously, why is he trying to get me to turn against the only person left in my alliance, almost right after Tempo told me that we could only rely on each other?"_

Krash walked past Reginald, carrying the fish to the fire pit. "I'll give this to whoever's wanting to try fixing dinner." He explained.

"At least keep my words in mind, Krash." Reginald said.

Krash cast a surprisingly-mad glance over his shoulder as he stopped walking momentarily. "I'll admit that I'm dumb, Reginald." He said. "But I'm NOT gullible."

With that, Krash continued on his way, hauling the big fish with him, leaving Reginald staring after him, looking a little frustrated.

"That didn't go as well as I thought it would." Reginald muttered to himself.

Meanwhile, Grace was having a similar conversation with Tempo, and was getting similar results, although in a different manner.

"Why would Krash and I want to join you after you've helped eliminate HALF of our alliance?!" Tempo asked.

"Tempo, we eliminated Chloe and Sandy because you would have had too much power at that point and you know it." Grace folded her arms. "Look, Inferno and Mel are by-far the bigger threats here. Try to deny it if you want."

Tempo opened his mouth to reply, but found himself unable to answer. "I suppose those two ARE big threats." He admitted. "But how do we know you're not lying again?"

"Because Reginald and I need to join someone and I doubt Mel will want to vote with us after voting out Erica." Grace explained.

"That was almost a week ago."

"I know. It's complicated."

"_While Reginald is trying to secure Krash's vote, I'm trying to do the same to Tempo, and I feel I may have gotten stuck with the harder job." Grace explained, arms folded. "It's obvious that we don't know how Tempo thinks, so it's impossible to tell if anything we're saying is actually getting through to him."_

"You simply confuse me, Grace." Tempo admitted. "Why are you so willing to sell out Inferno? I thought you two were friends."

"We are." Grace insisted.

"Then why haven't you been on an alliance with him all season?" Tempo asked. "Heck, you two were on the same TRIBE when we started."

"Because we know how the other plays and we know joining up wouldn't do us any favours." Grace explained. "We discussed it on the ride to the island and we determined that joining up would make us both targets right away."

"…I'm having trouble believing that." Tempo said. "You two are still friends. It's only natural that the friends would join up and not be at each other's throats like this."

"You notice that we've only done it recently, though?"

"_I'll admit that I'm feeling a little guilty about going against Inferno, but this is still Survivor, and we'd have to turn on each other eventually." Grace explained. "I feel more of a need to do this because I know for a fact that Inferno could easily beat me in the finals."_

"Look, I know focusing on Reginald and I first and then duking it out with Inferno and Mel sounds tempting, but ask yourself this, Tempo: Which team of two do you have a better chance against?" Grace quizzed.

"Giving you an answer would be like giving you ammunition, Grace." Tempo admitted. "I'm not answering that."

"I'm not asking you to. Just think about it, okay?"

With that, Grace walked off. Tempo sighed after she left. "Why is it that they always seem to have ways to plant ideas in my head?" He asked himself.

"_Grace's words were true; I'd have a far-better chance at beating her and Reginald in the finals than Inferno and Mel." Tempo explained. "But the problem is that Reginald and Grace are less-trustworthy and will likely find a way to turn the game around on me later on. I need to think fast."_

"Here's the fish for dinner, Tempo." Krash said as he came over and plopped his huge fish on the ground.

"Why the long face?" Tempo asked.

"I think Reginald's trying to take advantage of my intelligence…Or lack of it." Krash explained.

Tempo was silent. "…Krash, I think I may know what to do." He explained. "Listen up. Here's what we're going to have to try."

The final six ate supper and went to bed when night arrived. There would be a challenge the following day and they needed to be ready for it.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 35) **

"We could be in serious trouble if we don't play our cards right." Mel explained.

"How do you mean?" Inferno asked.

"At this point, the two of us are the only ones who have lasted this long before." Mel reminded. "Don't you think that could make us tempting targets?"

"Hmm…I never thought about that…"

"_The problem with lasting this long two times is that it can make us big targets to the remaining players." Mel explained. "However, one good thing Inferno and I have to rely on at this point is that there is a lot of opposition going on between the others. If we can lay low or play our cards right, we should still be able to survive."_

"_Heh. Maybe it can be considered a compliment to be thought as a threat because you're so good at the game." Inferno smirked. "But seriously, Mel's probably onto something. She thinks that we may need to keep attention off ourselves, but I dunno. Something tells me we're going to have to try something different…"_

"We're going to need to make a decision fast." Inferno said. "I don't know how much time we have."

"I know. Only a couple of days at the maximum." Mel nodded. "Any suggestions?"

"Treemail's here." Grace announced as she walked into camp.

"Looks like we may have to think about this later." Inferno muttered as he and Mel went over to where Grace had opened the letter.

"It's wondering if we're good at digging for things underwater." Grace explained.

"Hmm…This could be my challenge!" Krash grinned.

"Hold your horses, Krash. We don't know what it is yet." Tempo noted.

Krash pouted. "You can't just let me have my moment?" He asked.

"_Seriously. He's no fun." Krash said._

"_If the challenge takes place in the water, we've all got a fairly good shot, but when it comes to underwater digging, I'm not sure." Grace pondered. "I mean, I'm not sure how well I'd do in a challenge like that, but then again, I don't know how any of the others may be able to fare either, so we may still be on equal ground."_

**(Final Reward Challenge)**

The six finalists emerged from the jungle and stepped onto the beach. Seeing their mat sitting on the ground, everyone walked over and stepped on.

"Welcome to the final Reward Challenge of the season, N.P.Z.R. Tribe. Here, we will be testing your ability to dig something out of the ground while underwater." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw that he was standing near the water. "In the designated area we have marked off, there are a couple dozen clay pots buried in the sand under the water. Your goal is to dig out three pots, which weigh a good twenty pounds easy, and carry them back here to stack on a pedestal. Also note that you can only take one pot at a time, and can only go back for another after placing your current one on the pedestal. The first person to successfully bring three clay pots back here will win Reward, which is a trip to a tropical location on the island."

After being told that they would start right away, the final six got into running positions, prepared to run headfirst into the water.

"Okay. For Reward, Survivors ready?..." SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

The six took off and raced onto the beach, reaching the water at almost the same time. Krash dove headfirst into the water easily while the rest followed shortly after, everyone going under at once.

A few seconds passed and Grace shot her head out of the water, taking a deep breath.

"Those things are heavy!" Grace gasped.

"It's hard to dig a pot up and lift it to the surface on the same breath, that's for sure." SSBFreak nodded.

Reginald and Mel soon came up for air, empty-handed, as Grace went back under again for a second attempt.

Underwater, the contestants were seen digging out the half-buried clay pots, having to go back up for air before they could get them uncovered. However, when the contestants went back down again, some sand had partially-buried the pot again, undoing some of the work that had been done.

Krash, being a reptile, was having a far-easier time holding his breath and digging out a clay pot. While the others had gone up for air, Krash dug out a pot, hefted it up and swam to the surface with it.

"Got one!" Krash called out as he swam to shore.

Reginald watched Krash swim to shore. "He was right. This IS his challenge." He muttered as he went under the water again.

By the time Krash got to shore and placed his pot onto a pedestal, Inferno had just managed to get a pot loose enough to yank out of the ground and carry to the surface.

"Yeesh, that was harder than it should have been." Inferno muttered as he started swimming to shore.

"Krash is the first one to score a point, but Inferno is swimming back with his first pot." SSBFreak announced.

Krash returned to the shore and leapt back into the water as Inferno trudged up onto the shore with his first pot. As he loaded the pot onto the pedestal, two more pots were pulled to the surface of the water, from Grace and Tempo.

"Looks like Grace and Tempo are on the board as well. So far, Mel and Reginald are the only ones who haven't scored a point yet."

Mel came up for air, without a pot. "Every time I go back down, the sand's buried the pot again!" She cried.

At this point, Grace and Tempo had gotten back to the water. "I'm still in this." Tempo muttered. "I can still pull ahead if I hurry." He pulled just ahead of Grace as the two went under the water again.

Reginald and Inferno emerged from the water, taking breaths. Reginald went under again, but Inferno stayed up longer to take a bigger breath. He witnessed Krash emerge from the water again, holding his second pot.

"I got this! I actually got this!" Krash cheered as he swam to shore again.

"This could be a complete blowout…" Inferno sighed as he went under the water again.

"Krash has his second pot and will pull ahead as soon as he stacks it on his first." SSBFreak explained.

Grace poked her head out of the water, again empty-handed. "How is this so hard?! It shouldn't be this hard!" She said.

Krash reached his pedestal on the shore and quickly put his second pot on top of the first. Without wasting any time, he turned around and ran back to the water.

Mel emerged from the water, holding onto a pot. "Finally." She gasped for air.

"Mel is now on the board and Reginald is the only one without a point." SSBFreak announced.

Inferno emerged, holding onto a pot. "I've got one! I can still do this!" He said as he started swimming to the shore. By now, Krash had already gone back into the water.

"Inferno now has his second point, but he's a bit behind at this point." At this point, Mel had raced onto the shore, put her pot onto her pedestal and ran back to the water.

Reginald emerged from the water again and sighed. "You know what? I can't do this. I've got no chance to catch up, so I'm not going to bother." He said as he started treading water.

Tempo pulled his head out of the water and took a deep breath. "Trying to find one that's not as buried is going to take forever." He said as he went back under the water again.

Inferno ran back onto the shore and raced over to his pedestal, sticking his second pot on top of his first and securing his second point. Starting to breathe heavily from all the swimming and running, Inferno turned around and ran back to the water, jumping in as quick as he could.

Mel and Grace emerged from the water, again empty-handed. Grace saw that Reginald wasn't even trying anymore. "I take it you're quitting the challenge?" She asked as Mel went under again.

"I haven't scored yet. Krash and Inferno only need one more point. I don't think it's my challenge to win anymore." Reginald replied flatly.

Grace sighed. "You've probably got a point." She replied. "I don't think I've got the energy to continue, anyway."

Krash suddenly emerged from the water, holding his third pot. "Woohoo! I got it!" He said as he swam to shore.

"Look at that. The challenge is over, anyway." Reginald said.

Krash swam to shore as fast as he could (which was still pretty fast considering he was a reptile), climbed onto dry ground and ran over to his pedestal, placing his pot on top of the other two he had collected earlier.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Krash wins Reward!"

"Finally! I won something!" Krash cheered.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Reward, Krash. You will be spending the day at the tropical location on the island as a reward." SSBFreak explained. "In addition, we'll let you bring one other person with you."

"I'll take…Um…Mel." Krash explained.

Mel seemed surprised. "Okay." She shrugged as she walked over to join Krash.

"Krash and Mel will be going on their reward trip and will rejoin the rest of you at tomorrow's Immunity Challenge." SSBFreak explained. "The rest of you can head back to camp."

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"So why exactly did Krash take Mel and not you?" Inferno asked Tempo. "You two are in an alliance."

"It's something I told him last night. Reginald's been trying to trick him over to his side." Tempo explained. "I told Krash that if one of us won the Reward, to take either you or Mel along and try to talk about truces."

Inferno lifted his shades. "KRASH talking strategy?" He asked.

"I know. I think it's going to have to come from our end."

"_Krash and I can form a temporary truce with Inferno and Mel, and take out Reginald and Grace until it's just the four of us." Tempo explained. "Hey, if they think they can control the game like how they're trying to, then I think it's only fair that we give them a wake-up call."_

"Sounds good, but what about the possibility of the idol?" Inferno asked.

"We can try to split the votes." Tempo explained.

"How? If we DID, we'd end up with a 2-2-2 vote, going into a tiebreaker if the idol ends up getting used."

"_I don't think splitting the votes is going to cut it this time. Maybe if there were seven of us and not six, but at this point I think it's too late to split the votes." Inferno said. "If one of them has the idol, our best bet is to try and get them to waste it while we vote out the other."_

Grace and Reginald watched the scene from afar and looked at each other.

"How much do you want to bet that the four of them are going to gang up on us?" Grace asked.

"I'd say it's a sure thing at this point." Reginald nodded.

"So…I'm assuming that you're going to use the idol?"

"That may have to happen, but they may try to make me waste it."

"_I need to make sure I know who the target is before I decide to use my idol. If I waste it, I'll look like an idiot and be put in a bad position." Reginald said determinedly. "I need to read them and I need to figure out how they're going to vote, especially if there's no chance they're going to vote with us."_

"What about after the vote, though?" Grace asked. "Even if we were able to survive this upcoming vote, we'd be idol-less and still outnumbered."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there, Grace."

"_What worries me is that, if Reginald's plan is a success and he's able to blindside someone with his idol, it stills puts us at a 3-2 disadvantage afterwards." Grace said. "We're going to need to come up with a way out of this fast…"_

**(Tropical Location)**

"Wow. This place has quite the view." Mel noted as she walked onto a tropical beach, which provided a great view of the setting sun over the horizon.

"The water looks real clean as well." Krash nodded as he looked at the spring they were standing at.

"_Per Tempo's request, I brought one of the others along on Reward. I assume that Tempo would have done the same if it was him that had won." Krash shrugged. "I decided to bring Mel along, although it was more of a random choice in the end."_

"Thanks for bringing me along. I've been on a number of rewards already." Mel said as she sat down at the beach.

"Eh, no problem. Tempo wanted me to bring either you or Inferno along if I won." Krash replied.

"Really?" Mel asked. "Why's that?"

"Something about a truce or something. I don't know all the details." Krash replied.

"He wants to join forces to take out Reginald and Grace?" Mel asked.

"Yeah! That's it!"

"_So Tempo wants to do a truce for now? Well, I guess it can help us, but can we trust him to go through with it?" Mel asked. "I mean, he seems all too-willing to go into a 2-on-2 scenario with Inferno and I."_

"Why are you guys wanting to join?" Mel asked.

"I'm not sure, but when I told Tempo that Reginald was trying to sway my vote, that's when he told me his idea." Krash replied.

"Hmm…Really?" Mel asked. "That's interesting."

Krash blinked. "Please tell me you not going to start talking strategy. My head is already hurting." He said.

"Okay. I won't."

Krash sighed in relief. "I'm going for a swim, then. You coming?" He asked.

"Maybe in a bit. The sand feels nice at the moment." Mel admitted.

Krash nodded and went into the water. Mel sat down and relaxed.

"_Maybe I should just worry about this whole thing tomorrow, because I'm sure Tempo is probably giving Inferno a lot to think about at camp and I don't want to bother Krash with strategy since he doesn't like it." Mel said. "We'll have to talk about this tomorrow, but I know we won't have a lot of time."_

Night eventually rolled in. Expecting an Immunity Challenge the following day, everyone went to bed.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 36)**

"_I'm honestly not looking forward to the Immunity Challenge today. The best I can hope for is that either Reginald or I win Immunity and then he uses the idol to save the other at council." Grace explained. "I've got my fingers crossed that things will go in our favour."_

"Who's the target afterwards?" Grace asked. "Most of the others look to be pretty big threats."

"We'll wait until after the challenge to make that decision." Reginald said.

"You seem pretty sure of yourself, Reginald…"

Reginald sighed. "I hate losing, alright? I want to make sure we get this right, because we've only got one chance." He explained.

"And I still say we need to be thinking about what to do IF we manage to pull this off." Grace reminded. "We'd still be outnumbered."

"We'll worry about that later, Grace. One thing at a time."

"_I understand the need to plan ahead, but this close to the end of the game, you can only really focus on the current happenings." Reginald pointed out. "If we plan ahead too much, we'll be unable to read the others and figure out how they're voting."_

"We've got treemail, guys." Tempo announced as he walked into camp.

"Immunity Challenge, then." Inferno nodded. "What's it say?"

"It's…Wondering if we're good with mazes." Tempo read.

"Doesn't sound so bad." Reginald shrugged. "I mean, after that last challenge, I'll take almost anything."

"It'd even the playing field a bit, that's for sure." Inferno nodded.

"_The last challenge, although I got closer than I thought I would, wasn't even a challenge for Krash; He blew the rest of us out of the water." Inferno said. "In a maze-based challenge, at least everyone's got a fair shot at winning."_

"_Mazes…There are a few ways a challenge about mazes can be done. Granted, the all give us an equal shot at winning, but there's still a few ways it can be done." Tempo noted. "Part of me's wondering if it's even going to be a new way that hasn't been done yet, because I really wouldn't put it past them…"_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The four players from camp walked out of the jungle and onto a clearing. Seeing their mat on the ground again, the finalists walked over and stepped on.

"Before we start the challenge, let's bring back Krash and Mel, who are back from their Reward." SSBFreak said. Krash and Mel walked in from the side and joined the others. "Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, N.P.Z.R. Tribe. Here, we will be testing your ability to steer your way through a maze." He continued. Everyone saw what looked like six large, wooden pans behind the host. "Each of those pans is a maze, where you must navigate a steel ball through to the goal in the middle. To steer, you have to grab the handle of your pan and tilt the entire maze to roll your ball through, and remember that the mazes are sensitive, so steering can be difficult. The first person to get their ball to the goal in the middle of their maze will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

"If you'll all take your positions, we can begin."

The six finalists walked over to a maze and grabbed hold of the handle that the square pan containing the maze was attached to.

"Okay. For Immunity, Survivors ready?..." SSBFreak said. "…Go!"

The final six quickly started tilting their mazes, but found that the controls were indeed incredibly sensitive, as all it took to get the ball inside the maze moving was just a bit of a move.

"Man. This feels so weird…" Krash muttered.

"You never had one of these things when you were a kid?" Grace asked. "There are toys like this, only smaller."

Reginald steered his maze, making his ball go around a corner. However, he saw that he was coming to an intersection and tried to make his ball go around the turn, only for it to go right through instead due to the built-up momentum.

Reginald cursed his luck. "So much for rushing through the maze." He said as he tried to steadily guide the ball back to the intersection, only slightly moving the handle so the maze wouldn't tip as much.

Tempo was having similar problems to Reginald, as his hand wasn't steady enough to keep the ball from rolling past a desired turn. "This is harder than I thought." He mused. "I wasn't counting on this being so sensitive…"

Tempo tried rolling his ball back to the intersection, only for the ball to roll past again, although only slightly. Tempo quickly stopped himself and rolled the ball a bit back until he was able to make the turn he wanted to make.

Inferno, deciding to try going straight through the intersection before trying to venture around the corner, rolled past a turn and continued on the path afterwards. Inferno looked to be making progress until his ball arrived at a dead end. "Looks like the intersection is the way to go, after all." He said as he rolled his ball back to the intersection.

Grace was having an easier time navigating the maze than the boys were and had long-since passed her first intersection. However, making another turn, she found her ball rolling straight into a wall of the maze. "Rats. A Dead end." She muttered as she started rolling her ball back the way she had came.

Krash scratched his head as he continued to roll his ball back and forth past the intersection. He looked like he was struggling to find the exact point he needed to roll the ball the right way, but he was always off by a hair. Krash continued to try, but the more he did, the more he fell behind everyone else.

Mel remained silent as she maneuvered her way through the maze. She was able to work her way around corners and through intersections, but her pace seemed to be a little slower , but more controlled. Mel continued to press on and try to get her ball to the middle before the others.

The contestants continued to make their way through their mazes, each one letting out a groan of frustration at some point due to coming up to a dead end. At this point, it was hard to tell who was winning because everyone still looked so far-away from the middle of the maze.

"Looks dead even right now." SSBFreak said. "I wonder who's going to change the tide of the battle…"

The contestants continued trying to roll their ball through their mazes, and since there was no clear way to the middle, it was impossible to tell who was the closest to the middle. That being said, Krash was making little progress and was falling behind due to not matching the pace of the others.

Reginald narrowed his eyes in concentration as he worked his way through the maze. He appeared to be focused on where to go, but apparently lost track of the ball, as he ran into another dead end and cursed himself. Reginald backed out of the corner and worked his way back to the intersection he had gone through.

Inferno felt like he was taking his time and falling behind, and thus was starting to go through the maze a little faster to make up for it. However, this gave Inferno little time to prepare and he quite often hit a dead end. Inferno was still ahead of Krash, but he was feeling that he was also starting to fall behind.

Mel tried to look ahead in the maze to determine where to go, but she found that the instant she took her eyes off her ball, she'd lose control of it. Sighing to herself, Mel steadied her ball and returned her focus to it. "Looks like I'll only be able to focus on one thing at a time." She mused as she continued to work her way through the maze.

Grace worked her way around another corner, coming up to another intersection. She moved her ball to the right, but soon came upon another dead end. "How many twists and turns ARE there in this thing?" She asked herself as she did some backtracking.

Krash bit his lip as he slowly made his way through an intersection. "Okay. Let's see where this one takes me." He mused as he pressed on, moving his ball through the maze. When he didn't come across another dead end, he sighed in relief. "Looks like I got lucky." He said.

Tempo backed his way out of another dead end and returned to the last intersection he had made a wrong turn at. Tempo went down another route and hoped that this one wouldn't lead him to a dead end. "I hope I'm not going backwards at this point." He muttered to himself. "I've practically forgotten where I've been…"

The six finalists continued to work their way through the maze, and it was clear that Krash had fallen hopelessly behind at this point despite it being hard to tell how close people were. The contestants continued forward and tried to finish the challenge first.

"It's been a while now and no one's completed their maze yet." SSBFreak announced. "At this point, I'd have to say that someone's close to finishing."

This seemed to motivate the players and get them to try harder, even though there really wasn't much one could do in a challenge like this. The only thing the contestants could do was hope that they were getting close to the middle.

Mel's eyes darted around, trying to look at where she was going and potential routes she could take at the same time.

Krash hit another dead end. "Man…" He moaned.

Inferno worked his way back to an intersection. "Didn't I already go this way?" He asked.

Reginald cursed again. "More backtracking…"

Tempo bit his lip and worked his way through an intersection.

Grace narrowed her eyes, knowing that she was close to the middle and now she just needed to figure out how to get there.

The six contestants started sweating, knowing that it would be close without having to take their eyes off their mazes. The players could only tilt their hands and hope that the ball would somehow find its way to the middle, even if it was just by pure luck.

Suddenly, everyone heard a noise. One of the balls had slid into the cup in the middle of one of the mazes, signifying that someone had completed the maze.

Tempo breathed a sigh of relief and released the handle of his maze.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Tempo wins Immunity!"

"That was probably too close for comfort." Tempo said.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Tempo. You have a one-in-five chance at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he handed the Immunity Necklace to Tempo.

"Feels good to have it again." Tempo nodded.

SSBFreak turned to the other five players. "Tempo is safe tonight, but I'll be seeing you all at Tribal Council, where another one of you will be voted out of the game. We're approaching the last few days in the contest, and I know it'll hurt to be eliminated this close to the end. I'll give you the rest of the day to decide how you're going to vote, but for now, you can head back to camp."

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_Tempo won Immunity, which is good for the alliance. Now he was saying something about forming a truce with Inferno and Mel so we'd be the last four left." Krash shrugged. "I don't really know what to think about this. Something about trying to make Reginald waste an idol if he has one."_

"So we need to figure out how the others are going to vote." Tempo explained. "I take it Krash mentioned the plan to you on Reward, Mel?"

"I had to do most of the talking, but the point came across." Mel rolled her eyes. "But have you put into account the fact that Reginald may have an idol?"

"If he has one, we'll try to make him waste it." Tempo explained.

"That's good and all, but who's getting our vote?" Inferno asked. "The obvious choice would be to find out how they think we'll vote and vote for the other person."

"I know, but how do we figure that out?" Mel asked.

"How would you think they would vote?" Tempo asked.

"Grace knows I still haven't forgiven her for blindsiding Erica." Mel shook her head. "Maybe they're anticipating us to vote for her."

"Unless that's what they want us to think." Tempo pointed out. "There were a couple of tricks like that that happened back in my season."

"So how are we going to do this, man? We're running out of time." Inferno asked.

"…I don't know." Tempo said before looking at Krash. "What do you think, Krash?"

Krash stared blankly. "…Huh?" He asked.

"Oh, right. I forgot that you don't pay attention to strategy."

"_Our vote's going to come down to luck. It's four of us against two of them, and Reginald knows that. If he has an idol, he's going to play it." Inferno said. "The trick is to figure out how they're going to vote and beat them to it ourselves."_

Meanwhile, Grace was sitting at the fire pit, watching the conversation from afar, before looking at Reginald. "It's a sure thing that they're voting against us, Reginald." She said.

"That much is obvious." Reginald said. "Looks like I'll be using my idol tonight."

"On who? We obviously don't know who they'll be voting for."

"And that's one thing they have on us."

"_There's no doubt that my idol will be used tonight. The big question, however, is deciding who to use it on." Reginald said. "They're probably voting with the intent on me using my idol, and they don't technically know I even have it. This is all being played on an assumption."_

"_This is on Reginald's shoulders. If I go because Reginald wastes the idol on himself, then that's that. My game's done." Grace folded her arms. "I REALLY hate having my fate being out of my hands like this…"  
_

**(Tribal Council)**

The six players walked into Tribal Council, carrying their torches. Seeing that there was only six spots left, everyone sat down and prepared to begin.

"Before we start, let's bring out the current members of the jury." SSBFreak explained. "Edwina, Renaldo, Molly, Chloe, Erica and Sandy, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Sandy followed the others into council, but what threw everyone for a loop was that she was now wearing what looked like a straitjacket. Sandy didn't seem to pay it any mind and sat down with the others.

"The jury is only here to watch the outcome of council. They will not address you and you are not to address them." SSBFreak explained before he started asking questions. "Krash, you seemed to bond the most with Sandy, so how did it feel seeing her get the boot last time?"

"It felt bad, sure. I mean, Sandy was a fun person to hang out with." Krash shrugged. "Sure, some of the things she did were a little weird, but she was having fun."

"At MY expense, if I may remind you." Reginald replied flatly.

"She said you were so…What was the word…Prank-able?" Krash said.

"That does little to make me feel better." Reginald shook his head.

"He totally misses me." Sandy smirked.

"Inferno, how are things looking at camp now that we're getting down to the wire?" SSBFreak asked.

"It's basically us against Grace and Reginald at this point." Inferno explained. "We're running with the assumption that Reginald has the merge idol and intends to use it. If he DOES have it, we need to get rid of it."

"Reginald, is this true?"

Reginald sighed. "I guess there's no way around it. I indeed have the idol." He explained, pulling the merge idol into view. "Now, I know the intent is to make me waste this, but I assure you it will not go to waste."

"You sound confident." Inferno said.

"I won't fall for an attempt to make me waste it."

"Grace, how do you feel about this?" SSBFreak asked.

"It's a little nerve-wracking since, when you think about it, my fate in this game comes down to how Reginald plays the idol." Grace said. "I don't want to take the fall if he makes a dumb decision."

"Thanks for showing such faith in me." Reginald rolled his eyes.

"Tempo, you have Immunity again. Do you think you needed it?" SSBFreak asked.

"For sure. At least it gives me a little added assurance." Tempo nodded. "At this point, we all need Immunity."

"And finally, how do you think the vote will go, Mel?"

"I have no idea. I don't think any of us do." Mel shook her head. "We're just hoping we vote for the right person and Reginald wastes his idol."

"Okay. I think that's enough questions." SSBFreak said. "Before I go on, I need to ask: Tempo, you have Immunity. Are you keeping it?"

"Yes, I will."

"With that, tempo is immune and cannot be voted out." SSBFreak said. "It's now time to vote. Krash, you're up."

Krash got up and walked out of the hut to go vote. The Kremling walked over to the table and scribbled a name down before voting and walking away.

Grace seemed a little nervous as she approached the table, but wrote a name down wordlessly and voted as she walked back.

Inferno wrote a name down and sighed. "I hope this works." He said as he voted and walked away, returning to the hut.

Tempo seemed a little relieved since he had Immunity, but still wrote a name down without saying anything. His job done, Tempo voted and walked away.

Mel approached the table silently and wrote a name down. Without second-guessing herself, Mel put her ballot into the urn and walked away.

Reginald appeared to be in thought as he walked up to the table. He wordlessly wrote a name down and returned to the hut, still looking in thought.

When all six people had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained.

"And I think I'm going to indeed play this." Reginald said, showing his idol again. "I'm going to play it…On myself." Grace bit her lip, hoping Reginald was making the right choice.

With that, Reginald handed SSBFreak the idol. "This is indeed the merge idol. All votes cast against Reginald are now void." He explained as Reginald returned to his seat, ignoring a stare from Grace. "It's now time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Reginald. Void." Reginald smirked.

"Reginald. Not counted." Grace looked incredibly-relieved

"Reginald. Doesn't count." The other four players looked down.

"Reginald. Void." SSBFreak said. "That's four votes for Reginald, and none of them count."

The council was silent, wondering who Grace and Reginald had voted for. Even the jury looked interested in seeing where things would go.

"…Inferno." Inferno's eyes widened behind his shades. "Last vote, seventh member of the jury and fifteenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

"…Inferno. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak said.

Inferno sighed as he stood up and grabbed his torch. "Well, I didn't see that one coming, guys. Good work." He said as he walked over to the host.

"Inferno, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Inferno's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"I had a great time." Inferno said as he walked out of council and vanished from sight.

Once Inferno was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining five players. "And thus, we have our finalists. We will be going into our final three days with you five, and the eliminations don't stop here." He explained. "We still need to eliminate a few more people before we have our finale, and I can tell that the road there is going to be interesting. You can all head back to camp."

The final five stood up, gathered their torches and left Tribal Council. Grace brought up the rear, looking indifferent but feeling otherwise. She was relieved that Reginald's plan worked to perfection (and he would likely gloat about it later), but she felt a little bad that Inferno, who she had called a friend, was forced to take the fall for it.

"_Man. So close, and yet so far. But then again, considering I was a huge threat from the start, finishing sixth is a big accomplishment." Inferno said. "It was amazing doing this again and I don't regret coming back. I'm looking forward to the finale, because I don't know who's getting my vote yet."_

**Voting History:**

**Inferno – Grace and Reginald**

**Reginald – Inferno, Krash, Mel and Tempo (NOT COUNTED)**

Author's Notes: Inferno is out, leaving us with the final five. Like always, I enjoyed writing for Inferno and he still remains as one of my favourite castaways, but he was never going to be the one to win in the end. I'm glad I was able to do more with him this season and give him a bit more development. My only regret is that I didn't do more interaction between him and Anita early on because I didn't realize that I liked the pairing idea until just before Anita left.

**(Ponderosa)**

The limo drove up to the mansion on a sunny day again, pulling up to just outside the front door. Inferno stepped out of the back seat and shut the door behind him.

"Thanks for the ride, man!" Inferno said as the limo drove off. This left Inferno to admire the mansion. "Man. Sweet digs. This is gonna be good."

"_Yeah, I got eliminated, and the sting of elimination still gets me, but I did pretty good, all things considered." Inferno shrugged. "When I think about it, I actually made it the farthest out of my original alliance, after all."_

"I'm here, guys!" Inferno said as he walked through the front doors.

"Hey, Inferno." Renaldo said as he came over. "To be honest, I'm kinda glad it's you."

"Really? You wanted me gone?"

"It's not that. It's just that I've been the only guy on the jury since it started." Renaldo shook his head. "With all the girls around, I've been feeling a little awkward."

"_Every time the others went to council, a girl got voted out. Honestly, it's good to see another guy show up after so long." Renaldo said. "At least now I have someone to talk to that I can at least connect better with."_

"So how do you think Reginald caught on to who you guys were targeting?" Chloe asked as Inferno ate something from the kitchen.

"I'm more interested in where Reginald found the idol to begin with." Molly said. "We must have turned the camp inside out looking for it, and we still couldn't find it."

"You got me, but the important part was that he found it and knew how to use it." Inferno replied with a shrug.

"That may be something I'd have to ask if he makes it to the Final Tribal Council…"

"_It ticks me off that the bunch of us were searching for that merge idol for so long, and suddenly it's revealed that Reginald's had it the entire time." Molly folded her arms. "I'm confident that he hasn't had it for very long, but I just want to know where he found it."_

Later on, Inferno and Renaldo were playing pool while Erica and Chloe watched. They seemed more interested in playing table tennis after the boys were done pool.

"So how do you think you being blindsided like that is going to affect Mel?" Erica asked.

"It's going to bring out some fight in her, that's for sure." Inferno nodded. "If Krash and Tempo are still good on their deal to take out Grace and Reginald first, then she shouldn't have anything to worry about."

"And Reginald's used his idol. That was the last savant." Renaldo reminded.

"I've got my fingers crossed for Mel." Erica said.

"Tempo and Krash can totally win this one. I'm rooting for them!" Chloe replied.

"_We're currently looking at a 3-2 split in votes, and if all goes well, Reginald and Grace should be going next." Inferno said. "Right now, I need to decide on who's getting my vote at the end, because chances are my mind's going to change as more people come here."_

Sandy walked into the room, showing that she was still in the straitjacket she was wearing at the council.

"Why the heck did you wear a straitjacket, Sandy?" Inferno asked. "…And for that matter, why do you even HAVE one?"

"I don't think we really want to know that one." Renaldo interjected.

"Simple. These are my pajamas." Sandy said.

Renaldo paused. "Boy, that answer was unexpected." He admitted. "I was expecting something totally different."

"With Sandy, you learn to expect the unexpected."

"_Really, it's comfy and I can sleep better with it, but the biggest downside is the obvious fact that I can't scratch my nose if I get an itch." Sandy shrugged. "Maybe I can just ask one of the others to help me there…"_

Later on, Inferno was walking down the hallway and stopped by a door. Looking inside the bedroom, he found it empty.

"I'm gonna take this room, if that's alright." Inferno said.

Chloe suddenly noticed that the room Inferno was choosing was near Edwina and Renaldo's room. "Um…Just so you know, it can sometimes be hard to get any sleep around here." She explained.

"How so?"

Chloe beckoned Inferno to come close, and when he did, she whispered something in his ear. Inferno's eyes widened.

"Uh…On second thought, maybe I'll save this room for Reginald." Inferno said. "Maybe I'll move in down the hall."

"Sounds like a good idea."


	15. Day 37

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_Well, as we were suspecting, Reginald had an idol that he ended up playing. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get him to waste it and Inferno got blindsided." Tempo sighed. "Thankfully, we're still in an okay position. We outnumber the other two 3-2, and we can totally use that to our advantage here."_

"Man. I was hoping he'd think we'd gun for Grace." Mel sighed, arms folded.

"Nothing we can do about it now, though." Tempo said. "Our best bet is to just vote them out together now."

"Which one do we go for?" Krash asked.

"I'd say Reginald. If he wins Immunity, we'll gun for Grace."

"That works for me." Mel shrugged.

"I'm actually surprised that they've lasted this long." Krash scratched his head. "I mean, it's basically been just the two of them since Molly left, hasn't it? Wasn't that, like, the final TEN?"

"I think so." Tempo nodded.

"_We're coming into the last three days here, and we need to make sure that we keep an advantage." Mel explained. "That being said, Inferno was my closest ally remaining, so I know that I'm technically on my own. If it comes down to me against Tempo and Krash, there's no way they'll keep me over each other."_

"_Man. I never thought I'd be here, to be frank. I mean, we're at the final five and I'm still here, PLUS I've still got an ally left." Krash said. "I don't think I've ever been in this good of a position, considering the last season I had an alliance, it was just with one person and I ended up getting eliminated before the merge hit."_

Grace and Reginald sat near the small lake, appearing to ponder their next move.

"Well, your plan worked." Grace admitted.

"Thank you." Reginald smirked.

"I'm not congratulating you. Keep in mind that we HAVE no more aces in the hole." Grace reminded. "We're STILL at a disadvantage."

"Then we just need to get the others to turn on each other." Reginald shrugged. "Should be simple enough."

"Simple? Mel has it in for me and Krash is blindly loyal to his alliance!"

Reginald turned and cast a sly look. "And who, pray tell, does that leave?" He quizzed.

Grace blinked a few times. "…Tempo?"

"Tempo."

"_The way I've been seeing Tempo play, he seems to have an understanding of how we all play because he's studied past seasons." Reginald said with a smirk. "Why not use that to our advantage? I mean, who's the biggest threat by a logical standpoint? On paper, it sure doesn't sound like Grace and I."_

The final five decided to go to bed. They had a feeling there would be a challenge tomorrow and they wanted to prepare for it.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 37)**

"Tempo, can we talk?" Grace asked as she and Reginald approached Tempo while Krash was getting treemail.

"Uh…Okay." Tempo said hesitantly.

"Good. We were hoping there would be a chance that we could sway you to our side for the vote." Grace said.

"And…Why would I do that?" Tempo lifted an eyebrow.

"You're not thinking, Tempo. Who would you say is the biggest threat left in the game?" Reginald folded his arms. "That would be Mel, wouldn't it?"

"I guess so."

"Then why would you want to take her to the final three?" Reginald asked.

"_For our sake, I hope our words get through to Tempo because we know the other two will be impossible to flip." Grace explained. "If we can convince him that Mel is a better choice to boot over us, then we can turn a 3-2 disadvantage into a 3-2 advantage."_

"Just…Just tell us how you would win against her in the finale." Reginald pointed out.

"You really think booting us over her this late in the game is a good idea?" Grace asked.

"You guys have a good point, but I'm not turning on the others that easily." Tempo said determinedly.

"We'll see about that." Reginald said.

"_The thing with those two is that I know they're trying to stay in the game. The problem is that they indeed know how to make a point." Tempo folded his arms. "That doesn't mean I'm going to turn on the others, though. I just need to think about this a little more…"_

"Guys! We've got treemail!" Krash announced as he walked into camp.

"So who's reading it this time?" Mel asked.

"Uh…Eeney, meeney, miney…Moe!" Krash said before passing the treemail into Reginald's hands.

"…Fine. I'll read it." Reginald said as he opened the letter. "It's wondering if we're any good at obstacle courses."

"Obstacle courses? Can they DO that?" Mel asked.

"Apparently so."

"_I watched an episode of Takeshi's Castle before. Does that count?" Krash asked._

"_Obstacle courses on a deserted island…I mean, I guess they've done that before, but I'm just wondering how this is going to work." Mel said. "They could either get us to run one course together, one at a time or have five different courses set up so we can race each other. Either way, I'm sensing a lot of pain coming up..."_

**(Immunity Challenge)**

The final five walked out onto another clearing, this one looking somewhat larger than usual. Seeing their mat on the ground, everyone walked over and stepped on.

"Welcome to your next Immunity Challenge, N.P.Z.R. Tribe. Here, we will be testing your endurance and abilities to overcome obstacles." SSBFreak said. Everyone saw that there was a long ramp behind the host, going up a few stories. "You will each take turns running up this ramp while at the same time avoiding barrels that will be rolled at you from the top of the ramp. Your run ends when you make it to the top of the ramp, and the person with the fastest time overall will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

"If you'll all come this way, the order of which you'll be going was randomly determined earlier…"

**(Later…)**

Reginald was the first one up. The tall Rabbid gave a sigh as he stepped onto the bottom of the ramp. "Just my luck that I get chosen first." He muttered.

"Okay. Reginald is the first to attempt." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Reginald took off running and started up the ramp, but saw that barrels were indeed being rolled at him. Reginald slowed down a bit to let himself step over the rolled barrel, but this slowed him down a bit and he was forced to regain speed again.

Reginald saw that another barrel was being rolled at him, as well as another one shortly after. Reginald jumped over the first barrel, but the second barrel hit him in the legs, knocking him over and, quite ironically, barreling over him.

"Ouch. That looked like it hurt." Grace blinked.

Reginald staggered to his feet, holding his head, and looked ahead in time to see another barrel coming at him. Reginald tried to step over the barrel, but clumsily tripped over it by catching his foot on it. Reginald stumbled forward a step, but managed to regain his footing.

"The clock's still ticking, Reginald." SSBFreak announced.

Reginald pressed on, stepping over another barrel as he neared the top. All it took to get him up onto the top of the ramp was one more step over one more barrel.

"Reginald completes hit run and sets the time to beat at 41 seconds."

Reginald sighed. "Glad that's done with."

**(Later…)**

Krash scratched his head as he observed the ramp and barrels. "Why am I suddenly reminded of that Donkey Kong ape?" He asked aloud, not getting an answer.

"Krash is up next." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Snapping to attention, Krash made his way up the ramp, watching as the first barrel came towards him. Krash tried to jump over it, but caught his feet on the barrel as it went under him, causing Krash to fall on his face.

"Ouch. That hurt." Krash muttered as he got to his feet, only for the next barrel to plow into his knees, knocking him over again. Krash again staggered to his feet as he managed to jump the next barrel rolling at him.

"Krash is losing time. If he wants to beat Reginald, he needs to pick up the pace."

Krash continued up the ramp, almost tripping over the next barrel. Krash stumbled a few steps, which didn't give him the time to avoid the next barrel. Krash was bowled over, knocking him over the barrel completely as it continued on its way.

Staggering to his feet again, Krash rushed up the remainder of the ramp before another barrel was rolled at him. Krash ran up onto the top of the ramp, ending his run.

"Krash's time was well over a minute, so he's out." SSBFreak said. "Reginald still leads."

"Man. Those things hit hard." Krash noted.

**(Later…)**

Grace was next as she stepped onto the bottom of the ramp. "I'm not really looking forward to this." She said.

"Grace is next to try and take victory." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

The brunette woman ran up the ramp, easily leaping over the first barrel and landing on her feet to keep momentum. Grace saw that the second and third barrels were coming at her almost together, and while Grace was able to jump over the first, she tripped over the second and landed on her side.

"Ugh. How'd that hit me?" Grace muttered as she pushed herself to her feet and continued on her way. Grace jumped over the next barrel easily as she got closer to the top of the ramp.

"Grace is making good time, but there's still plenty of time for errors."

Trying to block out the announcement, Grace managed to get herself over the next barrel, finding herself close to the top. However, in taking her eyes off the next barrel, she tripped over it and stumbled on her feet for a couple of steps. Quickly recovering from this, Grace jumped onto the top of the ramp and ended her run.

"Grace managed to score a time…Of 35 seconds." SSBFreak said. "She had taken the lead from Reginald."

"Being a former cheerleader really helps." Grace panted.

**(Later…)**

Mel stepped onto the bottom of the ramp. "Okay. I can do this. I just need to jump over some barrels." She told herself.

"Mel is next to go." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Mel started running up the ramp, and stepped over the first barrel easily. However, much like the others before her, Mel jumped over the first barrel and tripped over the second, falling on her face.

Mel pushed herself to her feet, only for the next barrel to hit her in the face and bowl over her. Mel quickly got to her feet again to avoid a repeat performance and leapt over the next barrel. Mel continued on her way, stepping over the next rolled barrel but clipping her foot on the way over, stalling her.

"Mel's getting closer to the top, but she's running short on time."

Hearing this, Mel knew that she needed to pick up the pace and rushed forward. However, because she wasn't thinking ahead, Mel couldn't jump over the next barrel well enough to clear it altogether and stumbled again.

Although Mel managed to get to her feet relatively quickly, she saw another barrel coming at her, which she was able to jump over this time. Mel raced up to the top of the ramp and stepped on.

"A good attempt, but not enough to beat Grace's time." SSBFreak said. "She stills leads."

"So much for that." Mel sighed.

**(Later…)**

Tempo, the last one to go, stepped onto the ramp and looked up. "Okay. Doesn't look so bad from down here." He noted.

"Tempo is the last one to go. If he wants to win, he needs to make it to the top of the ramp in less than 35 seconds. If not, Grace will win Immunity." SSBFreak said. "Start!"

Tempo was quick to start his run and easily leapt over the first rolled barrel without losing any steam whatsoever. Tempo continued going until he saw the infamous double-barrel rolling at him. Tempo tried to time his jumps so that he'd be able to jump over both barrels, but ended up waiting too long and the first barrel bowled over him, followed closely by the second barrel.

"Ouch." Krash winced. "Double the barrel."

Tempo staggered to his feet and rushed forward in an attempt to make up for lost time. He leapt over the next barrel easily enough, but caught his foot on the next one, causing him to stumble a bit.

"Tempo's getting near the top. This could be close."

That gave Tempo added motivation and he continued upwards, leaping over the next barrel. Tempo tried to make it to the top before the next barrel was deployed, but took too long and was forced to make another jump before he could get to the top of the ramp and finish his time.

"Tempo's time was definitely close to Grace's, but in the end…He was a few seconds too slow." SSBFreak announced. "Grace wins Immunity!"

From the ground, Grace cheered. "That's a little added assurance if I ever saw it!" She said.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Grace. You have a one-in-four chance at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he handed the Immunity Necklace to Grace.

"Took long enough, but I'm glad I have it." Grace nodded.

SSBFreak turned to the other four players. "Grace is safe tonight, but I'll be seeing you all at Tribal Council, where another of you will be voted out." He explained. "Keep in mind that we're in our last few days of competition, so choose your targets wisely. You can all head back to camp."

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_Grace won Immunity, which unfortunately means it's MY hide on the line tonight. If we're going to avoid getting outnumbered, our best bet is with Tempo." Reginald explained. "I think we were able to get him thinking about voting out Mel, which s a start. Now we just need to make him act."_

"This may be your last chance, Tempo." Reginald explained. "If you don't take Mel out now, there's a chance she may win Immunity, and then she'll pretty much be a lock for the finals."

"Sounds like you're getting desperate." Tempo smirked.

"I know for a fact I'm the other target." Reginald rolled his eyes. "Just think about it, though. Would you really have a chance against Mel in the finals?"

"I still think you're downplaying your own chances." Tempo noted. "That could even be your plan, for all I know."

"You'll never really be sure, won't you?" Reginald sighed.

"_I've always known that Reginald will say whatever he can to stay in the game, especially since we're so close to the end." Tempo said. "That being said, I need to think about this. Who do I think I could have a better chance against in the finals?"_

After Reginald walked off, Krash and Mel walked over to Tempo. "You about ready to go?" Krash asked.

Tempo sighed. "As ready as I'll ever be." He admitted.

"The vote will be easy, Tempo." Mel said. "The three of us can take out Reginald now since Grace has Immunity."

"Yeah. That's right."

Mel paused, looking suspicious. "Has Reginald been talking to you to try and get your vote?" She asked.

"…Maybe?"

"Tempo, I of all people know what Reginald's capable of!" Mel explained. "Believe me, we need to get rid of him!"

"_If Reginald's been talking to Tempo to try and get his vote, I imagine that he's trying to get me out. Looks like this vote isn't going to be as easy as I thought." Mel sighed. "I'm going to have to try and plead my case at council to cement Tempo's vote…"_

Grace watched as Reginald came walking over after talking with Tempo. "I guess all you can do is wait." She shrugged.

"I hate this feeling." Reginald muttered.

"Now you know how I felt when you were waving around that idol." Grace said flatly.

**(Tribal Council)**

The five remaining players walked into Tribal Council and saw the dwindling numbers of seats available. Everyone sat down and waited for council to commence.

"Before we start, let's bring out the current members of the jury." SSBFreak explained. "Edwina, Renaldo, Molly, Chloe, Erica, Sandy and Inferno, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Inferno strolled into council, following the others. He was wearing a white disco coat that looked to be sparkling under the lights, an ascot, a pair of bright white pants and platform shoes. Inferno looked quite a bit like how he had dressed back in season three. The seven jury members sat down on the jury benches.

"The jury is only here to witness the outcome of council. You will not address them and they will not address you." SSBFreak said before he started asking questions. "Tempo, the last time you were here, an idol was played. Were you expecting that?"

"In a way, yes. I mean, we were voting with the intent of making Reginald waste his idol, and that was if he HAD it." Tempo replied. "Obviously, it didn't turn out that way and Inferno got the boot instead."

"I'm too smart to fall for something like that." Reginald taunted.

"Just like how you were too smart to not see Jonathan play his idol that…Oh, I don't know…ENDED your game last time?" Mel taunted back.

"That was five years ago!"

"Reginald, you on the other hand used the idol." SSBFreak said. "Does this put you at a disadvantage?"

"You'd think so, but I'm not going down without a fight. I've still got a chance to survive, and I intend to take it." Reginald said. "I don't see how I could be considered a threat, though."

"Don't give us that, Reginald!" Mel said. "You're trying to sway Tempo's vote to me!"

"Who else is there to choose from? Krash is too stubbornly loyal to his alliance!" Reginald shot back.

"Mel, what's going on with this little dispute?"

"Reginald knows he's the main target since Grace has Immunity, and he's trying to sway Tempo's vote so that I'll go instead." Mel explained. "This kind of talking is exactly what makes people like Reginald a threat in the first place!"

"You wound me, Mel." Reginald said flatly.

"You know I'm right!"

"So do we, for that matter." Erica added from the bench.

"Yeah." Renaldo nodded.

"Krash, who's getting your vote tonight?"

"Well, there isn't really much choice, is there?" Krash shrugged. "I mean, I assumed that I'd just vote for Reginald and then he'd be gone with three votes, right?"

"Reginald's trying to prevent that, Krash." Mel explained.

"Really?...But I'm still not changing my vote, though."

"That's good to hear." Mel nodded as Reginald sighed.

"Grace, since you have Immunity, do you feel any better?" SSBFreak asked.

"For sure. I mean, we're all needing Immunity since we're down to the final five." Grace nodded. "At least I know I'm safe if I have this thing."

"Okay. I think that's enough questions." SSBFreak said. "Before I continue, I have to ask; Grace, you have Immunity. You keeping it?"

"This late in the game? Yeah."

"With that, Grace is immune and cannot be voted out." SSBFreak said. "Grace, you're up."

Grace got up and walked out of the hut to go vote. She wrote a name down and put in into the urn before turning and walking back.

Krash approached the table and wrote a name down, taking a little extra time as usual. Finished writing, Krash put the ballot into the jar and walked away.

Reginald wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "Consider this a compliment, Mel." He said, having voted for Mel.

Tempo appeared to be in thought as he wrote a name down hesitantly. "I think this is the right choice." He said with a nod as he voted and walked away.

Mel scribbled a name down and revealed her ballot, showing Reginald's name. "I just hope I got through to Tempo." She said as she voted and returned to the hut.

When all five players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forward their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Reginald." Reginald remained silent.

"Mel." Mel bit her lip.

"…Mel." Council remained silent.

"…Reginald. We're tied at two." Reginald and Mel exchanged glances. "Last vote, eighth member of the jury and sixteenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…"

The final five remained quiet, most wondering how Tempo had voted.

The jury was silent, some hoping for one outcome and others for another.

SSBFreak turned the ballot.

"…Mel. You need to bring me your torch." SSBFreak explained.

Mel, realization kicking in, sighed as she stood up. "Man. I was real close to the end again." She lamented as she took her torch and approached the host.

"Mel, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Mel's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"We'll see if you'll regret your decision soon enough, Tempo." Mel warned as she walked out of council and vanished from sight.

Once Mel was gone, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "And with that, we have our final four. Mel is gone just shy of matching her old record, and we're at a point none of you have been before." He explained. "Two days remain in the competition and we've still got another challenge tomorrow. Until then, you can all head back to camp."

The four remaining players stood up, grabbed their torches and left Tribal Council. Tempo brought up the rear, looking a little indifferent. He was still unsure if he had made the right decision and had simply gone with his gut instincts. Would he indeed regret his decision to boot Mel? Only time would tell…

"_Five years ago, I made the final four, and here I make final five. That's quite the accomplishment even though I didn't beat my old record." Mel said. "I really enjoyed the experience and I met some people I don't think I'll ever forget. This opportunity to play the game again was rewarding and I would definitely do it a third time if I could."_

**Voting History:**

**Mel – Grace, Reginald and Tempo**

**Reginald – Krash and Mel**

Author's Notes: It was a long, hard road for her, but Mel leaves in fifth, barely missing out on tying her old record. Coming into this, I knew Mel would be in for the long haul since she had the most development potential due to having matured, and she was responsible for some of my favourite moments in the season. However, she wasn't destined to win, so Mel was ousted here.

In addition, Mel holds the record for the longest time in the game between two seasons, making it to Day 38 on her first attempt and Day 37 here, and even then Inferno missed out on that record by only one day himself. If anyone has any hopes of beating that record, it'd be to make it to Day 39 twice.

**(Ponderosa)**

Fog had rolled in at Ponderosa as the limo drove up the driveway and pulled up to the front door, headlights on so that it could see through the thick fog. As the limo pulled up to the front door, the back door to the limo opened and Mel stepped out.

"Man. Too bad it's foggy. I can't even see the top of Ponderosa…" Mel lamented before pausing. "…Then again, that just means that the building's bigger than I thought."

"_Like last time, I was eliminated just before the finale. Making it to the final four only to get cut is hard enough, but lasting almost as long the second time and STILL not making it is even worse." Mel said. "That being said, at least I can say that I lasted the longest overall between the two seasons than anyone else."_

Mel opened up the front door to Ponderosa and saw that Erica was standing there, waiting to greet her. "Hi, Mel. I'm real sorry that you didn't make it to the end this time." She said.

"It's fine. It's just annoying that I managed to make it to almost the end for the second time and I still got the axe." Mel sighed.

"What do you think happened back there?" Erica asked as the two walked into the house.

"What else? Grace and Reginald were able to convince Tempo to vote for me." Mel shrugged.

"You think it could have been Krash, though?" Erica asked. "I mean, he's not the brightest guy around."

"No, but he's definitely the most-loyal one left. It couldn't have been him."

"_I'm bummed that Mel missed out on the finals, because out of everyone there I totally would have voted for her to win." Erica pointed out. "Now that she's out, I'm going to have to think about this and decide who's getting my vote."_

Mel, with a large plate of food, walked over to the couch and sat down, seeing that everyone was watching something. "So what're we watching?" She asked.

"One Piece repeats." Chloe replied. "There's not really much on."

"Yeah. It's either this, Sonic X or sit through another one of Elias' corny B-List movies." Molly rolled her eyes.

Mel shrugged. "One Piece it is." She replied.

Molly glanced at Mel and smirked. "I bet you're regretting getting rid of me right now, Mel." She said. "If the two of us had stuck together, we would have gone to the end."

"I doubt that, Molly." Mel said before taking a bite of food. "With your reputation, you were probably planning to ditch me around the final seven. I just acted first."

Molly grunted. "Say what you will, Mel. You know I'm right." She said.

"_Yeah, Mel was right about me planning on ditching her, but I'm not about to give her the satisfaction of saying that she's right." Molly folded her arms. "What I WILL say is that if I was still in, I would have long-since gotten rid of Reginald and Grace."_

"So do you think Krash and Tempo can take out the others?" Inferno asked. "I mean, it's just the two of them now."

"The best we can hope for is a tiebreaker." Renaldo replied. "Unless Reginald can somehow get Tempo to vote against Krash."

"I really don't think that'd happen, though." Mel shook her head.

"They got him to turn on YOU, didn't they?" Renaldo countered.

"That's true, I guess." Edwina nodded. "How exactly did Tempo lose the game last time, Erica?"

"Truthfully? He swapped sides on an alliance, pinned the blame on another guy and got voted out after the alliance leader called him out on it." Erica said.

"_Hmm…Looks like Tempo is capable of playing both sides. While that could translate to playing a better game, it's not really good for the social aspect." Mel noted. "We haven't really seen much of that from him so far, but there's still one more day for things to change."_


	16. Day 38

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"_I…I don't know how that happened. I was expecting us to have the majority easily, but Tempo decided to vote Mel out instead." Krash said. "Why would he do that even after telling me that we had to trust each other?"_

"Tempo, why'd you vote out Mel?" Krash asked as he followed Tempo. "I thought we were going to take out Reginald."

"I figured that Mel was the bigger threat, Krash. We wouldn't win against her." Tempo replied.

Krash paused. "You TOLD me we needed to rely on each other, Tempo." He said. "How am I supposed to trust you if you don't tell me what you're doing?"

"That time was the last time, Krash." Tempo insisted. "It's us against them for sure."

"Except now we're shooting at a tiebreaker, aren't we?"

"I suppose so, but it's better than risk Mel getting to the end and winning."

"_Do I regret voting without telling Krash? Yeah, but I didn't really have a lot of time beforehand and Krash is liable to tell Mel about it as soon as he knows that I'd be voting for her." Tempo folded his arms with a sigh. "I've seen enough of this show to know when someone is a huge threat, and Mel was by far a bigger threat than Reginald at this point."_

Meanwhile, Reginald appeared to look relieved as he sat by the fire pit. Grace saw this and came over. "Looks like we dodged a major bullet back there." She said.

"I know. At least we got them to lose their advantage." Reginald nodded.

"Still, the best we can hope for is a tie unless we can somehow make Tempo vote for Krash, which I doubt." Grace said.

"Believe me, I'll take a tie over a disadvantage."

"_I managed to survive the vote, where I was going into it at a 3-2 disadvantage. Coming out of it on top was a huge relief for me and told me that I've still got some semblance of control." Reginald admitted. "Right now, Grace and I make up half the vote, and if we can beat the others in a tiebreaker, we'd have a good majority going into the finals."_

"So who's getting our votes?" Grace asked. "Who would have the best chance at winning out of the two of them?"

"Tempo. He's played a smarter game while Krash has just been following people around." Reginald said quickly.

"That would make him a great ally though, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah. I was tempted to pick him for an alliance member I could control, but Sandy was quick to make friends with him." Reginald admitted. "She scooped him up almost right after we started."

"_I'm real close to the end this time. Last time, I was cut at the final EIGHT. Now I'm one day away from making it to the finals." Grace said with a smile. "All I need to do is survive one more challenge and council and I'll have made it. I just need to hope I can win Immunity one more time."_

Knowing that the following day would have the all-important final Immunity Challenge, everyone went to bed, wanting to feel refreshed for it.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 38)**

"No." Krash said as he walked away from Reginald.

"Krash, you saw him last night." Reginald said. "He voted against the way you were voting. I don't think he told you about it, either."

"That doesn't mean I'm betraying him!" Krash snapped.

"_Yeah, it bugs me that Tempo didn't vote the way he said we would, but I'm not letting that get in the way of the alliance. He SAID we had to trust each other." Krash insisted. "…However, I think I may need Immunity to be certain. I still trust Tempo, but I know now that he'll vote however he wants if it comes down to it."_

"Just think about it as preserving your game. Considering that Grace and I aren't threats, he'll likely target you." Reginald pressed on.

"Don't you ever shut up?" Krash muttered before turning to face Reginald. "Seriously, stop with the strategy talk! It's getting on my nerves!"

"You need to learn to live with it, Krash. Just because your brain can't process-"

That was all Reginald got out before Krash grabbed him by the collar of his vest, held him off the ground with one arm and stared into his eyes. Krash stared at Reginald angrily for a few seconds as Reginald looked increasingly nervous. Krash finally exhaled and let Reginald go before turning around and walking away silently.

"_I really hate it when someone is so persistent with talking strategy to me despite me flat-out telling them that I'm not interested." Krash said with a sigh. "I feel kinda bad about letting my anger get the better of me, but Reggie was just annoying me and wouldn't leave me alone."_

"_It seems I underestimated Krash's sensitivity. Well, I REALLY think I shot all my chances at getting on his good side to vote out Tempo." Reginald sighed._

"We've got treemail." Grace announced as she walked into camp.

"Time for the final challenge." Tempo nodded.

"Oh…Looks like we're going to be honoring the fallen survivors before the challenge." Grace noted. "Looks like that's another milestone made."

"Hmm…I've always wondered what this would feel like." Krash noted.

"We may as well head out. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get to the final challenge." Tempo added.

"_I've been looking forward to this. The Rites of Passage is a major milestone and I finally made it. Just goes to show everyone how far we've come." Grace said. "But I've come to win, and with Reginald taking all the heat lately, I think I've got a good shot. I just need to win this last challenge to make sure."_

"_Krash and I make up half the vote. It's us against Reginald and Grace at this point, although I'm pretty sure I hurt Krash's feelings by going back on him last night." Tempo said. "I'm sure Reginald will use that to his advantage and try to get Krash to turn against me, but I don't think Krash will do it."_

**(Rites of Passage)**

The final four came upon a secluded beach after following the instruction on the clue they were given. The boat was set up so that it was facing a line of torches sticking out of the water on the way to a location in the distance.

"Just a boat?" Reginald asked. "I was expecting something a little fancier."

"Looks like our challenge is going to be out in the water." Tempo shrugged. "May as well get in the boat and start rowing."

"So we just need to pay our respects to the other players as we row by?" Krash asked as he got into the boat.

"I assume so. There's nothing else in the boat." Grace said. "Let's get started."

The four got into the boat and started rowing out to their final challenge, rowing past the line of torches sticking out of the water, each with a picture of a fallen survivor attached to it. The first torch had a picture of a dark-skinned cyborg woman on it.

"Ah, Yori. Memorable villain, but played herself right out of the game." Tempo said.

"What exactly happened, anyway?" Grace asked.

"She tried to force Molly into an alliance and Molly ended up getting everyone to turn on her." Krash replied.

"I still remember how much we all clashed with Yori back in season three." Grace nodded. "Seeing her get eliminated first was satisfying to see."

"I was a little hesitant about voting her out first since she was so strong, but then we won every Immunity Challenge later until the swap, so I think it all worked out." Reginald smirked.

"For you, maybe." Grace said as the four rowed past.

"_Going out first wasn't exactly the way I expected to commemorate my return to the game, but it seems that everyone else still remembered how I played." Yori lamented. "I think I could have done real damage to the others if I had stayed around, but I suppose my gameplay this time was a little flawed; I wasn't expecting Molly to be such an animal…"_

The torch of a dark-haired woman was next. Krash recognized her, but Grace did also because she was on her tribe.

"Poor Charlotte. I wasn't expecting her to be the second one out." Krash said.

"She was leading you on back in season two, you know." Tempo lifted an eyebrow.

"No, she wasn't. I could tell that she was hurt when I was eliminated last time." Krash insisted. "Why'd she go so early, anyway?"

"She was targeting Anita for holding us back, and Edwina and Renaldo decided to join her alliance temporarily." Grace said. "We were outnumbered and Charlotte was the main instigator."

"She would have been hard to get rid of later on, though." Tempo added. "She was one of the big players of her season."

"And she tried a repeat performance that ended up blowing up in her face." Grace shrugged.

"If she wanted to do better, she should have just sat back and let other people do the thinking for a bit." Reginald lifted an eyebrow as the four rowed past Charlotte's torch.

"_I was dealt a card that I decided to play and it cost me the game, and I don't even feel that justified since Anita was booted right after me." Charlotte said. "As far as I'm concerned, the experience was a wasted opportunity for me. I would need to try again with a different set of people to see if I indeed still have it."_

Anita's torch was next, and people recognized her even with the multiple facial scars.

"I'm still surprised at how many scars Anita got." Reginald said. "I'm glad that she ended up going early, though. Later on, she would have gotten nearly everyone to vote for her in the end. What exactly happened?"

"Get this: Anita stumbled upon an ancient ritual site that was causing her to warp between here and some sort of dark and twisted world temporarily." Grace said. "I managed to convince everyone that voting her off was the best thing for her."

"I find that story hard to believe." Reginald said.

"Believe it. Anita literally vanished from camp several times. Like, into thin air and everything."

"Seeing where she comes from, I shouldn't really be surprised." Tempo said. "Too bad. She was one I really wanted to get into the head of to see how a mind like hers worked."

"I always felt sorry for her. At least she looked relatively okay emotion-wise." Krash said. "That'd have to account for something."

"_I'm glad that I was able to locate what was causing me to shift, because if I didn't make that discovery, it'd still be out in the open laying in wait for the next person to come along." Anita said. "Since the loser's lodge is just off the island, I don't shift between worlds, which is good because I'm still low on these tranquilizer pills…"_

Grace saw that the next torch was that of a koopa with shades and sighed. "Jack…Well, he played a dumb game again." She said.

"How so?" Reginald asked.

"You remember his original strategy of joining up with someone and then voting them out when he had the opportunity?" Grace asked. "Well, he tried it again. And he tried it with what was probably the worst person imaginable."

Tempo sighed. "It was Kendall, wasn't it?" He asked.

"Yeah, and Jack paid for his stupidity when Kendall decided to throw him under the bus. Barney at least had the decency to tell him and I about Kendall's backstabbing."

"But it still wasn't enough, it seems." Krash said.

"No. It was still just the three of us in the end."

"_Man. I probably made myself look like an even bigger idiot than last time. It took forever for people to forget what I did last time, and now it'll all just start again." Jack sighed. "Still, all things considered, I had fun. I just wish that my game didn't get cut so short…"_

Gary's torch was next. Reginald sighed. "Ah, yes. I remember that council." He said.

"What? None of us were there." Krash said.

"Kendall made everyone hate him, and then he pulled out a Hidden Immunity Idol. He eliminated Gary with ONE vote." Reginald replied. "It's a shame, because Gary was pretty loyal to me and my alliance."

"His demeanor is always laid-back, and he tends to let other people do the thinking. That's what I remember from my season." Tempo said. "Looks like it carried over here as well."

"He was definitely an easy person to work with." Reginald noted. "I just wasn't expecting it to be THAT easy."

"It's not 'that easy', Reginald. Believe me, Gary is more than capable of handling himself." Tempo said. "He DID make it to the final two last year."

"How could someone so laid-back make the finals, though?" Grace asked. She didn't get an answer.

"_I wasn't expecting the idol to come out, but whatever. It's how the game ended up being played. It just wasn't meant to be." Gary admitted. "I'm glad I had the opportunity to play again, even if I didn't make it nearly as far as I did the last time. I'm not about to change who I am to advance in the game; It isn't me."_

The picture of a dark-haired man in a purple coat was next. Reginald shook his head. "That elimination was interesting." He said. "I never expected things to escalate that quickly."

"So…What? Barney just punched Kendall's lights out?" Tempo asked.

"Yeah. One punch and Kendall was across the camp." Reginald said. "Kendall was getting high and mighty after eliminating Gary and…Well, he got a taste of what Barney felt of people like him."

"Which is a punch to the face, apparently." Tempo shrugged.

"Too bad that he had to get expelled from the game." Krash said.

"Rules are rules, and Barney broke the biggest one the instant he punched Kendall." Grace replied. "They don't bend for anybody."

"I'm actually glad he decided to do that." Reginald noted. "Taking himself out of the game saved us a lot of trouble later on."

"_Do I regret throwing my game away? Not in the slightest. It felt amazingly satisfying to punch out that little twerp and even though he keeps talking about suing me for all I'm worth, I know that my actions will be seen as justified." Barney said. "As I said, I'm best friends with the best lawyer around and Kendall will have a hard time beating him."_

Kendall's picture was next and everyone looked mad at it.

"Kendall was so irritable. Those couple of weeks I knew him, I just couldn't stand him." Grace said.

"Try putting up with him for a whole season." Tempo said. "You guys really should have gotten rid of him first, when you had the chance."

"Yeah. It'd prevent him from going on his power trip, anyway."

"And it'd keep Barney from attacking him." Krash interjected.

"I didn't like Kendall, but at the very least I can say that he made himself a very easy target." Reginald admitted. "I wonder what happened to him after he got pulled from the game."

"Hopefully nothing good." Tempo rolled his eyes.

"_I am beyond mad at the fact that I was pulled from the game just because that oaf punched me. At least he got ejected, but I shouldn't have been pulled!" Kendall insisted. "Ugh…I'm going to sue that big idiot for ruining my game. I'll make him pay me everything he's got! I'll show him that I am the one person he doesn't want to mess with!"_

The next picture was that of a dark-haired man with a mustache. They all recognized him.

"Elias was my main ally. Pity that he got the boot pre-merge." Reginald lamented.

"He tried to get me to fall for a fake idol." Krash retorted.

"AND he pinned the blame on me at council." Grace added sharply.

"Yeah. Elias dug his own grave back there." Tempo nodded. "Even if he DID make the merge, we would have remembered that."

"It's kinda weird, though. I thought he seemed a little nicer this time than I remember." Krash noted. "I wonder why he suddenly decided to try giving us a fake idol."

Tempo paused, then glanced at Reginald. "The whole thing was your idea, wasn't it?" He asked.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Reginald replied flatly as the four rowed on.

"_It's regrettable that I ended up leaving the way I did. I was backed into a corner and the only way out was to try the fake idol, which ended up blowing up in my face." Elias said. "I did fairly well, however, until that unfortunate incident. That being said, I'm still shaving this stupid mustache as soon as I can."_

The four saw that Edwina's picture was next. They all remembered how her elimination went.

"I liked Edwina, but she was turning into a bit of a schemer pre-merge." Grace admitted. "She was trying to keep Kendall until he decided to try playing his own way."

"Another thing that makes me glad I was never on a tribe with Kendall." Tempo shrgged.

"I still feel kinda bad about voting her and Renaldo out like that." Krash said. "They had just hooked up, even."

"I keep telling everyone that it makes them a huge threat that way." Reginald rolled his eyes. "Would ANY of us make the finals against a unified supercouple?"

"You were never on a tribe with Edwina, Reginald." Tempo lifted an eyebrow. "Where'd you get the idea to vote them out so quickly?"

"From Krash, actually. He made an off-the-cuff comment and I picked up on it."

Krash's eyes widened. "Wait. What?"

"_Yeah, I didn't make it to the end, but I still lasted longer than most of the other former finalists of the series and I ended up finding a boyfriend. I think that's a pretty big accomplishment." Edwina admitted. "I wish I could have gone further because I really love the game, but you know what? I'm fine making the jury."_

Renaldo's picture was just after Edwina's. Reginald smirked. "I'm thankful for that surprise second challenge." He said. "We were able to take the couple out in one blow thanks to that."

"I didn't mind him, but Renaldo kinda creeped me out with his stories." Grace said.

"Yeah. Now I think I'll be having nightmares about a psychotic clown zombie that's bent on tearing my face off." Tempo sighed.

"I still don't get how Edwina was clueless to how he felt." Krash said.

"That sounds like a corny soap opera when you say it like that." Grace sighed.

"But it's true!"

"Renaldo wasn't really playing his own game, though. Like before, he just seemed to be doing whatever Edwina did." Tempo shrugged.

"So it was no real loss that he ended up leaving right after she did, anyway." Reginald finished as the four rowed past the picture.

"_I ended up hooking up with Edwina, so I guess I got something worthwhile out of this. Now I just need to figure out how to make the relationship work." Renaldo pondered. "Don't get me wrong, I'm satisfied with my performance. I just don't think I could take another trip like this. My life's already hectic enough as it is."_

The final four saw that a picture of a pink Minjo was next. They looked a little indifferent as they approached.

"Molly may not have been the big threat she used to be, but I'm glad we took her out when we did." Tempo explained.

"I don't know. She managed to make it to the final ten." Grace said. "She must have found a way to help her get by and slip under everyone's radars."

"Yeah. It's called only going to council twice before the merge hit."

"She made me nervous." Krash pointed out. "She was real mad when she left as well. You think she'll be bitter at whoever makes the finals?"

"I'd bet on it." Reginald nodded. "That being said, you can't deny that she still lasted halfway through the competition with no façade to hide behind."

"Yeah, but like I said, she only went to council twice pre-merge." Tempo said.

"_I was robbed, plain and simple. I was playing a relatively under-the-radar game this time and it was working perfectly until Mel decided to jump ship and sell me out." Molly insisted. "I feel that if that didn't happen I could have gone straight to the end because there's no other way I could have been labeled as a threat."_

Tempo sighed as he saw Chloe's picture coming. "Poor Chloe. She went way too soon." He said.

"Your alliance had four members in the final nine. Something needed to be done." Reginald explained.

"Heck, your alliance still has TWO people in the final four." Grace reminded.

"You had to be damaged eventually and we figured your little sidekick was a good target."

Tempo sighed. "It still hurt." He said. "Chloe was my closest ally and it sucked seeing her go after she got cut pre-merge last season. She didn't even last that much longer than she did last time."

"I liked fishing with her after Sandy taught her some new tricks." Krash supplied. "She was a real bundle of energy."

"And one that was hard to keep up with at times." Reginald shook his head as the four continued on.

"_I made the merge this time, which is great. I'm bummed that I didn't go further, but you know what? I'll take what I got. Ninth is still better than twelfth." Chloe reasoned. "I learned a few new tricks out here and I'm actually gonna pick a finalist to vote for at the end, which from the looks of things isn't going to be as hard as I thought at first."_

Grace saw Erica's picture coming up and shook her head. "Boy, Mel was mad after Erica left." She explained. "I wasn't expecting her to have that kind of reaction after seeing a fan go like that."

"This Erica caught me off guard, because she was this anti-social goth last season." Tempo explained.

"It's hard picturing someone so excited to play the game as an anti-social goth." Reginald said.

"Watch the previous season when we're done and I'm sure you'll have different thoughts."

"When she wasn't preoccupied with Kendall, Erica seemed to be excited about being in her alliance with the others." Grace said. "She said that Anita was one of her favourites in addition to Mel."

"And I have this feeling that the instant Erica gets back home and returns to her normal life, she'll return to being the goth she was last season." Tempo shrugged.

"Can someone really have a personality change that quickly?" Krash asked.

"You'd be surprised."

"_I'm grateful for the chance to play the game with the All Stars, and I think I did a pretty good job considering that I didn't make the moves I did last time." Erica said. "I got to meet my favourite players, became friends with them and now I've got a couple of souvenirs that I'll keep with me for a long time."_

Reginald frowned as he saw Sandy's picture coming up. "It took a long time, but I finally got her out of my hair." He said. "And you know what? It felt VERY good."

"I still don't really understand why Sandy seemed to single you out like that." Grace shrugged.

"My guess is that it's just fate's way of having a cruel laugh at my expense." Reginald sighed.

"I miss her. She was real fun to hang with even though it was hard to keep her under control." Krash lamented.

"That's because it's basically impossible." Tempo said. "I still don't know why you tried."

"Hey, SOMEONE had to do it." Krash shrugged. "None of YOU guys were making a move."

"Because I happen to VALUE my internal organs." Tempo said. "I know better than to get in the way of Sandy when she's got her mind set."

"_Did I have fun? You bet I did! It was a blast to play the game again and I totally don't regret any of the choices I made. I played exactly how I wanted and had a whack of fun doing it." Sandy said. "It's like that Cave Johnson guy says: When life gives you lemons, figure out a way to make them combustible and burn life's house down with them!"_

Inferno's picture was next, recognized a mile away due to the unique hair. "I'd say that we got you good that night." Reginald said.

"We were almost expecting you to have the idol, but we were trying to make you waste it on Grace." Tempo replied.

"I told you that I was too smart for that, Tempo."

"To this day, I wonder if things would have turned out different if Inferno and I aligned again." Grace shrugged. "We were keeping our distances because we knew our personalities would clash sooner or later."

"He was a pretty cool guy, though. I liked his style." Krash supplied.

"His look makes him look like he never even left the seventies!" Reginald pointed out.

"Now that I think about it, is Inferno even OLD enough to have been alive in the seventies?" Grace asked.

"Probably not." Tempo shook his head. "But he probably never got into techno like his sister did and went the decade prior."

I guess questionable tastes in music runs in the family." Reginald shrugged.

"_Man. I was so close to making it to the end. Another couple of days and I could have made it, but our plan didn't work out the way we wanted and I paid for it." Inferno said. "It was fun doing this again and it made me remember why I enjoyed playing the game the first time through."_

Mel's torch was the last one the four came across. Krash spoke first. "Mel was real close to matching her placement from her first season, wasn't she?" He asked.

"Yeah. One more day and it would have tied." Tempo nodded. "That being said, at least she can say that she's had more combined time in the competition than anyone else."

"Then taking her out was the best choice." Reginald reminded. "She would have won in the end hands down."

"Yeah. Voting her out WAS the smart thing to do, but I don't know." Tempo said. "I felt sorry for her because she was so close."

"Don't be. This is Survivor." Grace responded. "We've all come to expect things like this. Besides, you helped vote her out."

"Don't try the guilt-trip on me. You were the ones to convince me to vote with you in the first place."

Krash cast a glare at Grace. "You probably wouldn't be saying those things if YOU were the one eliminated so close to the end, you know." He quizzed.

Reginald looked at Grace. "He has a point." He said.

"_I'm still reeling from my elimination, but you know what? I made it to at least the final five for two seasons now, something no one else can say." Mel explained. "I may not have started the way I wanted to, but by the time I was done, I had no regrets about how my game was at the end."_

The last torch behind them, the final four continued rowing to their destination, which ended up off the shore of the island at a spot they hadn't seen before…

**(Final Immunity Challenge)**

…The final location was a sunset view from the shore, and the final four easily spotted for poles sticking out of the water. They saw the host on the shore and rowed over before getting out of their boat.

"Welcome to your final Immunity Challenge, N.P.Z.R. Tribe. I hope that you were able to reminisce about your fallen fellow contestants, but it's time we finished off the season with one more challenge." SSBFreak said. "As you probably expected, we're having an endurance challenge. You will stand on one of those four poles for as long as you can, and if you fall, you're out. The person that remains on their pole the longest will win Immunity and be safe from elimination at tonight's Tribal Council."

"If you'll all select which pole you will be standing on, we can begin."

**(Later…)**

The final four stood on their poles, the challenge having started. Grace and Krash wobbled a bit, but managed to keep their footing and stay upright.

"Okay. The challenge has officially started and we are now counting down until only one remains." SSBFreak explained. "Reginald, how would you say your chances are in this challenge?"

"I think my thinner frame may work to my advantage here." Reginald said. "I may be able to keep my balance for longer than the others can."

"I'll take you up on that challenge, Reginald." Tempo smirked.

"Tempo, who do you think has the best chance here?" SSBFreak asked.

"We're all got the determination required to pull off the win since this is the final challenge." Tempo explained. "We all want the win, and we're all going to stay up here as long as we can."

"Well, I don't have any incentives to get anyone to fall this time."

"Good. One less thing to worry about."

"How do you think your balance will hold up, Krash?"

"As well as I can possibly muster." Krash said. "I'm not backing down from this and I'm staying up here as long as I can."

"You sound determined."

"You bet I am."

"Grace, how much do you need to concentrate here?"

"I know it's just standing on a pole, but this still requires full concentration." Grace explained. "Lean too far one way and you'll fall off."

"I'll leave you guys to the challenge for now." SSBFreak said. "I'll come back in a bit to see how you're doing."

**(Later…)**

A few minutes passed. All four players still remained on their poles and didn't look like they were wavering that much. The four exchanged glances to see if anyone was looking ready to drop yet.

"It's been twenty minutes and you're all still in the game. I'd bet that your stamina is taking a hit after this long up there." SSBFreak explained. "Krash, how do you feel?"

"I'm starting to feel the burn, but it's nothing I can't get through." Krash noted. "Standing in one place for too long definitely numbs your legs."

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Krash." Reginald rolled his eyes.

"Hey, back home I'm always on the move. This has gotta be the longest I've had to stand still." Krash said.

"It's been only twenty minutes."

"With those monkeys running around trying to kill us Kremlings, we tend to stay moving." Krash replied flatly.

"Grace, can you see yourself winning?" SSBFreak asked.

"I don't picture it as winning the challenge. I picture it as outlasting one person at a time." Grace replied. "At least if my goals are smaller, the pressure is reduced."

"Tempo, how does it feel to have lasted this long in the game?" SSBFreak asked.

"It feels great, especially since I was ousted at a relatively-tame seventh last time." Tempo nodded.

"Relatively-tame?" Grace asked. "I finished eighth, Reginald finished ninth and Krash finished ELEVENTH. Out of the four of us, you did the BEST last time."

"…Ah. Never mind, then."

"Reginald, how was it to reminisce about the players you've outlasted?"

"It was satisfying because it shows how far we've come." Reginald replied. "That being said, there are some people I reminisced about more than others due to obvious reasons."

"Like Sandy?"

"The only thing about her I reminisced was how good it felt to outlast her after five years." Reginald replied sharply.

Suddenly, Grace wavered a bit too far to one side and toppled off her pole. With a surprised shout, Grace fell headfirst into the water below.

"And Grace is the first one out of the challenge." SSBFreak explained.

The remaining players were caught a bit off guard by Grace's sudden departure and wobbled a bit, but they managed to keep their balance. They knew that the challenge would only get harder from this point.

**(Later…)**

Time passed by, going by slower and slower for the remaining players. Grace sat on the shore and watched the three contestants continue to balance on their poles.

"It's been just over forty minutes now and there are still three of you left." SSBFreak said as he turned to Grace. "Grace, since you now are unable to win, how are you feeling?"

"Not good. I'm feeling anxious now that my fate's out of my hands." Grace said. "All I can do now is just sit back and watch the challenge unfold."

"Tempo, how are the legs holding up?" SSBFreak asked.

"I'm definitely feeling the burn at this point. The only thing that's keeping me up is determination at this point." Tempo replied. "I feel like my legs can buckle at any point and send me crashing into the water."

Suddenly, as if to prove Tempo's point, Reginald suddenly fell off his pole, his legs buckling as the cause of the fall. Reginald, with a surprised shout, hit the water.

"Reginald is now out. It's down to Krash and Tempo."

"Well, that's it. One of us is winning Immunity, Krash." Tempo said. "You want to drop out?"

"No. I'm staying in this as long as I can." Krash shook his head.

"Okay. We'll keep going."

**(Later…)**

Krash and Tempo remained on the poles for another long period of time and it looked like they were both weakening. Reginald, by now, was sitting down on the shore with Grace and watching the challenge from there.

"It's been an hour and you both are still hanging in there, although I can bet that it won't be very long now." SSBFreak said. "Am I right, Krash?"

"Maybe. My legs have been asleep for a while, but I'm feeling the pain in them now. I can only imagine what they'd feel like if my legs weren't already asleep." Krash said with a shrug.

"Reginald, now that you're out, who do you think will win?"

"It can go either way, but Tempo's got more determination." Reginald explained. "Plus, Krash has more muscles and is more top-heavy than Tempo is."

"Don't rule me out yet, Reginald!" Krash said.

"You're confident in your chances, Krash?"

"Yeah. I mean, if it's just determination keeping us up, then I totally got a shot!" Krash said.

"Anything to say as a response, Tempo?"

"Not really; He's pretty much right." Tempo replied. "The only real reason we're both still up here is because we simply refuse to give in. I really don't know which of us is going to win."

The two remained on their poles for a while longer, both looking fatigued but refusing to drop. Grace and Reginald watched the two, Grace looking a bit more-interested than Reginald, wondering which of the two would fall first because they both looked pretty close to falling.

Krash and Tempo exchanged glances, as if daring each other to drop first. They knew that only one of them would win and neither of them wanted to drop out first, especially after having to stand on top of a pole for an hour.

Suddenly, after what seemed like an eternity, one of the two dropped off their pole and fell headlong into the water, signifying the end of the challenge.

Krash remained on his pole, looking down at where Tempo had vanished into the water.

"That's it! The challenge is over!" SSBFreak announced. "Krash wins Immunity!"

Krash sighed in relief. "I'm glad THAT'S over." He said as he stepped off his pole and landed in the water.

**(Later…)**

"Congratulations on winning Immunity, Krash. You have a one-in-three chance at winning the game." SSBFreak said as he gave Krash the Immunity Necklace.

"Great. I needed this." Krash nodded.

SSBFreak turned to the other three players. "Krash is safe tonight, but I'll be seeing you all at Tribal Council, where you four will become three and vote one more person out of the game." SSBFreak said. "Let me say this: After tonight, the jury will be complete and we will have our finale set up. It's time to decide on who you want in the finals with you. You can all head back to camp."

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"I think it's obvious that we're going to be facing a tie." Grace sighed. "Unless we can convince Krash to vote against Tempo."

"That's a lost cause. It's not happening." Reginald sighed back.

"_Of course Krash wins Immunity. If it was Tempo winning instead, at least we may have had a chance of getting him to turn on Krash." Reginald rolled his eyes. "Now we know that those two are going to vote together since Krash is immune and we need to prepare for a tiebreaker since neither of us are safe."_

"You think it's a fire-making tiebreaker tonight?" Grace asked.

"I'd say that it's the only one we can actually prepare for." Reginald said. "We just need to hope that we can beat Tempo at a tiebreaker."

"That could be tough. I think I saw him starting to practice as soon as we got back to camp."

"Then we both need to put in as much time as we can to practice."

"_The problem is that we have no idea how Krash and Tempo are going to vote, so Reginald and I both need to prepare for a tiebreaker." Grace explained. "I personally think they may be gunning for me because I consider myself a bigger threat than Reginald, but he's done more to make people mad than me. Maybe they'll just want to get rid of him."_

Meanwhile, Krash watched as Tempo continued to try and make fire. "You feeling confident about this?" He asked.

"There's only so much you can practice when making fire." Tempo replied.

Folding his arms, Krash looked at where the others were making fire. "So who's the target?" He asked. "Reginald made me mad earlier, so I kinda want to vote him out."

"Krash, Grace is a bigger threat." Tempo replied. "If either of them has a chance to win, it's Grace."

Krash sighed. "Okay."

"_Reginald really made me mad before the challenge, and right now I just want to vote him out. But Tempo says that we need to vote out Grace." Krash explained. "I know I'd rather have Reginald go, but if Tempo's voting Grace, I will as well. At least then we'd for sure have a tiebreaker."_

"They may try to split our votes. We need to make sure we vote for the same person, Krash." Tempo reminded.

"Don't worry. I get it." Krash sighed. "I'll vote for Grace."

"I know you don't like keeping Reginald, but this is the better move."

"_I need to hope that Krash's emotions don't get the better of him tonight, because if he votes for Reginald, I'm screwed." Tempo said. "My best bet at staying here is to win the tiebreaker, and if I can keep practicing, I've still got a shot."_

**(Tribal Council)**

The final four walked into Tribal Council, carrying their torches once again. Seeing that there was only four spots left, the quartet sat down and waited for council to commence.

"Before we continue, let's bring out the current members of the jury." SSBFreak said. "Edwina, Renaldo, Molly, Chloe, Erica, Sandy, Inferno and Mel, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Mel followed the others into council, showing that her black hair was styled differently, and she was wearing a blue dress with multi-coloured waves in one corner. Mel joined the others on the jury bench as the eight former players sat down.

"The jury is only here to watch the outcome of council. As always, you are not to address them and they will not address you." SSBFreak said. "Krash, the last time we were here, Mel was ousted. What happened then?"

"The plan, I was told, was that it would be 3-2 for Reginald. We weren't betting on Tempo getting swayed to change his vote." Krash explained.

"Does this affect anything between you and him?"

"No, but I'm a little let down that he went against me." Krash said, arms folded.

"Tempo, anything to say on your own behalf?"

"I decided on my vote at literally the last second, and I didn't really have the time to run the idea past Krash." Tempo explained. "From the game's standpoint, Mel was the biggest threat."

"A bigger threat than Reginald?" Krash asked.

"Krash, Mel would have EASILY beat any of us in the end. You can't deny that."

"I know I would have voted for her." Erica said.

"I know. I have no idea who's getting my vote." Inferno added.

"Reginald, how do you think the vote's going to go tonight?" The host asked.

"There's no doubt that we're going to have a tiebreaker." Reginald explained. "It'll be either Grace or I against Tempo."

"You sound pretty certain."

"There's two of us, two of them and no way we'd be able to get them to turn on each other." Reginald said.

"Believe me, he tried." Krash said flatly.

"Just drop it, Krash. I get that you won't listen to reason."

"Listen to reason?! You played on my intelligence!"

"Krash, calm down." Tempo muttered.

"Grace, what seems to be going on here?" SSBFreak asked.

"Reginald said a few things to Krash he probably shouldn't have and Krash…Well, he acted accordingly." Grace shrugged. "At least that's what I heard. I try to stay away from those things."

"You did a fine job with that by eliminating Erica and I." Mel noted to herself.

"Who do you think Krash and Tempo will target tonight?" SSBFreak asked.

"If I said that, that'd likely influence their decision, and I don't want that." Grace said, eyes narrowed. "It could be either Reginald or I, and now that the idols are all gone there's nothing really protecting us."

"Tempo, are you prepared for a tiebreaker?"

"I think so." Tempo nodded.

"Okay. I think that's enough questions." SSBFreak said. "Before we continue, I have to ask: Krash, are you going to keep Immunity tonight?"

"You bet I am."

"With that, Krash is immune and cannot be voted out. It's now time to vote." SSBFreak said. "Reginald, you're up."

Reginald got up and left the hut to go vote. He silently walked up to the voting table and wrote a name down before putting it in the urn.

Tempo wrote a name down and showed it to the camera. "I just hope Krash's emotions don't get the better of him." He said, having voted for Grace.

Grace approached the table and wrote a name down before showing it. "Because Krash is immune." She said, revealing Tempo's name.

Krash scribbled a name down, not taking a moment to second-guess himself. Giving a sigh, Krash voted and returned to the hut.

Once all four players had voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it moments later. "When I read the names, the person with the most votes will be asked to bring forth their torch and leave Tribal Council immediately." He explained. "It's time to read the votes…"

"…First vote; Tempo." No one blinked.

"Tempo." Tempo folded his arms.

"…Grace." Grace sighed.

"Final vote…" Tempo could only hope that Krash voted for Grace.

"…Grace. We have a tie." SSBFreak explained.

Tempo sighed in relief. "Then I've still got a chance." He explained.

"If you two will come here, we can go right to the tiebreaker."

Grace and Tempo stood up and walked over to a pair of seats, each in front of a mini fire pit. The two sat down.

"As you may have guessed, this tiebreaker is a fire-making tiebreaker." SSBFreak explained. "You must make a fire as quickly as you can and make it big enough that it will burn through a rope and raise a flag. The first person to burn through the rope will be safe and the loser will be automatically eliminated."

Grace and Tempo exchanged glances, but nevertheless prepared to start the challenge. There was only one way out of this, now.

"Okay. For survival…" SSBFreak said. "Begin!"

The two went to work almost immediately, beginning to work on creating a fire before the other. Grace and Tempo refused to take their eyes off their fire pit and thus weren't paying attention to their surroundings as they worked. The challenge went on for a bit and it didn't look like much progress was being made.

"At the moment, it's hard to tell who's winning." SSBFreak announced.

The two continued on with the challenge, trying to block everything out. Eventually, some smoke started to appear in both fire pits. Small flames appeared to be building in both pits, and it was still hard to tell which of them was winning at the moment. They would need to wait for the flames to get bigger.

The jury watched as the flames in the fire pits got bigger by the second, leaving the former contestants wondering who would be the one to win. It still looked like it could go either way.

Seeing their flames getting bigger seemed to be enough motivation to keep Grace and Tempo moving as they continued to try and get their fire bigger. They still had a ways to go, as the rope they were trying to burn was still pretty high above where their flames were.

Slowly but surely the flames got bigger and were quickly approaching the ropes that needed to be burned. Grace and Tempo still looked to be neck-and-neck, and it looked like the winner would be decided by only a difference in seconds.

Soon enough, both Grace and Tempo had built roaring fires that were close to engulfing the ropes. All the two needed to do was build up the fire a little more and then the fire would take care of the rest.

Everyone else watched in anticipation, wondering how the challenge would go. The challenge seemed to be going on for far too long for a simple fire-making challenge, but soon enough, one of the ropes was burned through, raising the winner's flag in the process. The loser's flag popped up a few seconds after the first, but it hardly mattered.

Grace cheered as she stood up and shot her fists into the air. Tempo sighed in frustration and sat back, realizing that he had lost by just seconds.

"With that, Grace is the winner and will remain in the game." SSBFreak explained. "This means that the ninth and final member of the jury and seventeenth person voted out of Survivor: Central Hub…Is Tempo. You need to bring me your torch."

Tempo sighed as he stood up and grabbed his torch. "I can't believe how close that was." He explained as he approached the host.

"Tempo, the tribe has spoken." SSBFreak said as he extinguished Tempo's torch. "It's time for you to go."

"I'll be monitoring you guys closely." Tempo said as he walked out of council and vanished from sight.

When Tempo vanished completely, SSBFreak turned to the remaining players. "And then there were three. Grace, Krash and Reginald? You three are the players that will be facing off tomorrow for the million dollar prize." He explained. "Your fate is now out of your hands and in the hands of the jury, who will be voting for one of you to win the million dollars. I'll see you three tomorrow for the Final Tribal Council, but for now, you can head back to camp."

The final three stood up, collected their torches and left Tribal Council. The three players couldn't believe that they had made it as far as they did, and now they were going into the finals with a chance to finally win the million dollars that they had missed out on the first time. They all knew that they had a chance to win, but now they just needed to worry about each other…

"_Man. ONE DAY from making it all the way and I lose in a tiebreaker. That's really not the way I was thinking I'd go." Tempo sighed. "Still, I made it to the final four and I proved that I can indeed tussle with the best of them. I'm glad I had this chance, and now I need to decide which of the final three I'll be giving my vote to…Like it'll be a hard choice."_

**Voting History:**

**Tempo – Grace and Reginald**

**Grace – Krash and Tempo**

Author's Notes: And so Tempo leaves and the first season to lose all their representatives is Season 4. Coming into this, Tempo was going to be someone who was a target because he knew too much about the others. He knew how most of the others played before through extensive research and anticipated little changes (although he hadn't counted for the more-drastic changes). Originally, Tempo was also going to finish fifth, but I swapped him and Mel around because I decided to have a representative from each season in the final four.

Okay. We're down to the final day! One of these three players remaining will be labeled the Sole Survivor, and this will be revealed tomorrow! Place your bets! Who will it be? Grace, Krash or Reginald?

**(Ponderosa)**

For the final time, the limo drove up to the front doors of the large jury house. On this last day, the weather was nice, which at least brightened the mood of the last juror, who emerged from the backseat of the limo.

"Man, it's hot out today." Tempo said as he pulled off his green jacket and walked into the jury house with it under his arm.

"_After losing the tiebreaker, I was ousted from the game as the last juror. Losing the game was bad enough, but now I only get to stay at the jury house for a couple of days." Tempo lamented. "At least before I was able to spend a bit more time there."_

"Anyone home?" Tempo asked as he walked in through the front door. "Hello? Can I get a witness here?"

Scratching his head as he looked around the foyer of the house, he walked inside and suddenly saw Renaldo coming out of a bathroom, wearing a pair of swim trunks.

"Oh! Hey, Tempo. We weren't expecting you so early." Renaldo said. "Everyone's out back in the pool."

"Okay. I'll grab some food and eat it out on the deck."

"_I'm actually relieved that Tempo got the boot. The way he seemed to be reading all of us told me that he seemed to know more about us that he let on." Renaldo said. "Frankly, that got a little unnerving."_

Tempo walked out onto the back desk, where the pool was, with a plate of food and a can of soda. Sitting down on a beach chair, Tempo watched as the majority of the others waded around in the pool.

Molly and Edwina were the only ones not in the pool, as the two girls were sunbathing on chairs next to Tempo's spot. "We were honestly beginning to wonder when you'd show up." Molly said with a smirk, although not appearing to look at Tempo through her shades.

"Hey, at least I made the final four." Tempo shrugged. "Which is more than I can say for you."

Molly scoffed. "I'm still a more-successful villain."

"Who, by the way, only made it to sixth in her original season by pretending to be a nice girl." Tempo smirked.

"You have to admit that he got you on that one." Edwina said.

"Shut up. Both of you." Molly grunted.

"_I hate all these people so much. They take every opportunity they can to either mock me or make fun of me." Molly said. "I think they're just jealous that I'm the better player. I mean, the first time, I was able to play everyone like fiddles, and even here with a target on my back I still made the merge."_

Sandy swam over to Tempo and leaned on the edge of the pool. "So how do you think the game's going to go?" She asked.

"They've all played different games and it's clear that they're all going to be wanting the votes tomorrow." Tempo explained. "Reginald's the biggest player, but I think his gameplay may cost him some votes. Krash…Well, he didn't really have a gameplan to begin with."

"So?" Sandy asked.

"So that may cost him in the eyes of people looking for someone who played a better game." Tempo reasoned before taking a bite of food. "Grace, on the other hand, seems to be somewhere in between. She's made some moves, but not enough to make too many people mad at her."

"That's a far cry to how she was playing last time." Inferno noted as he swam by.

"_Looking at who the people we have to choose from are, we've got two people that have played the game and made moves, but have made some of us bitter, and someone who is good with people but hasn't had a plan of attack since we started." Tempo explained. "Some of us will make our decision easier than others, but we need to choose our winner before tomorrow night."_

"_Now comes the hard part: Deciding on a winner." Edwina said._


	17. Day 39

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe)**

"I can't believe that I actually managed to pull that off." Grace sighed in relief as she walked into camp.

"I know, but the important thing is that you did it and now we managed to get rid of the biggest threat left." Reginald said with a smirk.

"_Grace won the tiebreaker and eliminated Tempo, which was good for us because I know he could have swayed the jury votes in the end." Reginald explained. "Now it's Grace and I against a guy that hasn't really HAD much of a gameplan, and that's something we can exploit at the last council."_

"Man. I can't believe we've actually made it this far." Grace noted. "We really made the most of the second chance we got."

"Indeed."

"So…What now? I guess there's not much more to do except wait until council tomorrow."

Reginald was silent. "Yeah. There's no need to strategize anymore." He admitted. "This is going to be a slow day."

"Not that Krash would mind, I guess." Grace shrugged.

"_It took two seasons, but I managed to make it to the end. And I think I've got a shot at winning when I look at who I'm up against." Grace said. "I'm actually excited about tomorrow because I'm going to get my chance to tell the jury why I should win. I've totally got this."_

"Well, I guess there's not really much more to say except may the best player win." Grace said.

"Yeah. I hope you can settle for second place." Reginald smirked.

"You should be telling yourself that, Reginald. I'm not the one that's ticked off the jury."

Meanwhile, Krash was walking alone through camp, looking a little down. He sighed as he sat down by the shelter.

"Man. It's so lonely out here now." Krash lamented.

"_Don't get me wrong. I'm glad that I managed to make it to the end. I'm just sorry that none of my friends made it to the end with me." Krash sighed. "Instead I go to the end with a couple of people who have been playing to make people mad at them for some reason. But…If my friends are on the jury, then they may vote for me, right?"_

"Sandy I know will vote for me, but I still don't know about Chloe or Tempo…" Krash sighed. "I really wish this game wasn't so complicated. This game is meant to be like surviving in the wild and all people do here is backstab each other."

Krash looked at the shelter and decided to go to bed, standing up. "Well, it's pretty late. Council's tomorrow and I guess people will be asking me stuff…" He mused as he walked into the shelter.

Grace and Reginald followed Krash into the shelter moments later. The final three decided to end their day and go to sleep for the final time on the island.

**(N.P.Z.R. Tribe; Day 39)**

"So…This is it, huh?" Krash asked. "We actually made it."

"I know. None of us made it this far in our previous seasons, so this is a nice change of pace to be answering the question instead of asking them." Grace noted.

"I didn't make the merge last time." Krash shrugged. "What do I expect?"

"Well, the jury will ask you questions and you answer them the best you can." Grace said. "Not really much to it."

"Okay. Doesn't sound so hard."

"_My main competition is Reginald tonight. Krash hasn't played much of a game and has relied on the plans of others to get through the game." Grace explained. "On top of that, Krash seems completely-unprepared for council, and I think that will definitely cost him if he stumbles over his answers."_

"So…How are you going to answer the questions of those that are bitter?" Krash asked.

"Reginald's the one that's made people bitter." Grace said.

"Really? I thought Mel was really ticked at you, though." Krash noted.

Grace paused in thought.

"_I'm wondering what kinds of words Grace and Reggie will say at council to get people to vote for them. I mean, from my perspective, they've both made people mad." Krash shrugged. "I'm actually worried that they may start turning on each other at council. Things could get real messy pretty quick."_

Reginald walked towards the treemail box alone, in thought about his gameplan.

"Krash I shouldn't worry about." Reginald noted to himself. "Grace is the one I need to focus on. But how do I get the undecided voters to side with me?"

"_There's no question that, out of all three of us, I've played the fiercest game. However, I'm aware that I've likely made a few enemies and I'm going to have a hard time swaying them." Reginald said. "If I can keep their votes away from Grace, though, I should be good. I only need five votes maximum to win."_

Reginald reached into the treemail box and pulled out the last letter. "Finally. The last treemail." He said as he walked back to camp. "Time to finish this contest for good. Hey, you two! We've got the last treemail!"

Grace and Krash came over as Reginald opened the letter and read it. "It's time to head to council and start swaying votes." He said. "It's congratulating us on making it to the end and telling us to just come to council."

"Well, this is it. We've finally reached the end." Grace sighed, almost in relief. "It was long and hard, but we finally made it."

"Well, good luck to you guys." Krash said. "It was fun playing against you and I hope the jury makes the right choice in deciding which of us wins."

"So do we, Krash. So do we." Reginald nodded. "I also hope you both know that I'm not going to pull any punches at council."

"Good. That just means I can come out swinging as well." Grace smirked.

"Well, I guess we should head out." Krash said. "We don't wanna keep them waiting."

"_I can win this. I know I can. Reginald's made a lot of the jury mad and Krash hasn't been playing his own game since the start." Grace explained. "If I can keep the big blame from the jurors off myself, then I may be able to sway some of the undecided voters. I think I've already got some votes. I just need a few more."_

"_I've got friends on the jury, and I think that I've got their votes. At least, I HOPE I do. Plus, I don't think I've made the jury mad at all." Krash shrugged. "Sure, the others have played the game more than me, but I'm not the one that's causing the jury to be bitter at them. Maybe I've got a chance at winning this after all…"_

"_If I can convince the jury that my motives were for my game and how I wouldn't have lasted without doing what I did, I may get them to realize that I played the best game." Reginald said. "Like I said, I'm sure that some of them are bitter at me, but I think I have the ability to sway their votes. I've been doing well for the rest of the game. I just need to do well for one more council."_

**(Final Tribal Council)**

The final three walked into council for the final time and walked over to the three remaining seats. The three sat down in and waited for the council to begin so they could finish the game.

"You three returning players have made the most of this second chance we've given you all, outlasting seventeen other players and making it all the way to Day 39. I'd like to congratulate you all for making it to the end, as that alone is not an easy feat to do. However, we're not done yet. One more vote will be cast, and this one will decide which of you will win the million dollar prize." SSBFreak explained. "The ones in charge of this vote will not be you, but our completed jury of nine: Edwina, Renaldo, Molly, Chloe, Erica, Sandy, Inferno, Mel and Tempo, who was voted out at the last Tribal Council."

Tempo was the final member of the jury, and thus brought up the rear as the jury walked into the hut. The finalists saw that, other than a new haircut and having removed his ever-present green jacket (leaving him clad in the black shirt he wore underneath), Tempo looked pretty much the same. The jury sat down on the jury bench, forming the full jury.

"In a moment, these nine former players will take turns asking the three of you questions, during which point you can attempt to sway some votes. However, before that, I'd like the three of you to plead your case to the jury, describing your game and why you think you deserve to win over the other two." SSBFreak explained. "Since we always go alphabetically here, will you start, Grace?"

Grace nodded as she gave her piece. "Coming into this, I wanted to avoid making the mistake that cost me the first time: Having poor communication skills. Because of that, I wanted to make sure all my bases were covered at camp, and I would directly oppose when someone I was attempting to align with was going to do something that would damage my game, such as Kendall's constant taunting of Erica." She explained. "After the merge hit, I took my game and threw it into high gear, taking out people who I thought were threats, and considering that we're all experienced players by now, that pertained to a good majority of you. Despite not having a concrete alliance until later on, I still managed to slip through the cracks, making a few moves here and there and made it to the end. I think I deserve to win because, unlike Reginald, I didn't make enough moves to get people too mad at me, and unlike Krash, I was able to make the moves instead of sitting in the background and listen to others."

"Krash, will you go next?"

Krash lifted an eyebrow at Grace for a second, but looked at the jury. "Well, I don't really know what to say here. I mean, I was cut before the merge even arrived last time, and here I am, sitting at the end. I'll admit that I didn't really have a plan of game because I REALLY don't like talking strategy, so I just ended up getting to know people without having to talk any strategy. It didn't stop others trying to talk strategy to me, and while some were more persistent than others, I generally tried to tune all the strategy out unless it was coming from Tempo." He pointed out. "And then, after making the merge with all my friends, I ended up watching them all get blindsided, leaving me alone, and I was wondering what that was. Maybe it's because these two didn't see me as a threat, but I still don't know why they would think that since I'm probably the only one here that hasn't made any of you mad in some form. I guess that's one of the reasons I deserve to win, although I think part of it may be because I was able to get here without having to make any of those big moves that Grace and Reginald needed to do."

"Reginald, would you finish?"

The rabbid turned his attention to the jury, having waited patiently to say what he needed. "I can understand how many of you are probably not impressed with how I played the game, but rest assured it was mainly to make sure what happened to me in my original season didn't happen again. Because of that, my methods of attack may have come off as a bit desperate at times, but that was basically why I did them: I was desperate. The fact that I was stuck on the same tribe as Sandy for the entire duration of her stay had an even-greater effect on my desperation as well, I'm not going to lie." Reginald admitted. "Like I said, I didn't want a repeat performance of my first season and that gave me motivation to keep playing everyone around me. However, I still managed to pull off more moves than anyone here, and that helped me get to the finals despite constantly being a target. I think that alone is enough to make me worthy of the win, but if you want more reasons, I think another one could be how I made it here despite losing all of my allies around mid-merge and still making it here."

"Three different cases from three different players. With that, your fate is now out of your hands and in the hands of the jury members, who will now take turns asking you questions." SSBFreak said. "Since we will go randomly…Chloe, would you start?"

Chloe got up and walked over to the three finalists. "Let me start off by saying that I'm glad I made it as far as I did this time because I'm going to be voting for the winner now." She explained. "Krash, since we know each other well enough, I'm not going to ask you anything."

"Okay. That's fine." Krash nodded.

"Grace and Reginald, I want you two to give me a good reason why I should vote for either of you and NOT Krash tonight." Chloe explained. "Grace?"

"Well, like I said, I didn't make as many people mad as Reginald did and I still made it this far." Grace explained. "In addition, you can't deny that Krash didn't really play much of a game in the first place."

"It's better than playing a game where you backstab everyone around you." Chloe said. "Reginald?"

"I know you lot are probably bitter towards me, but I still played the fiercest game here." Reginald explained. "I had to FIGHT to get this far, while Grace had relatively-few problems and Krash just coasted right through. If that isn't deserving of the win, I don't know what is."

"But look at what you had to do to get here." Chloe reminded before turning back. "I'm done."

"Okay. Inferno, you go next."

Inferno got up and passed Chloe as he walked over to the finalists. "Well, here we are again. Grace and I have been here before, although we were both asking the questions last time as opposed to her answering them." He explained. "So my first question is for her: Do you think your success has anything to do with that fact that we never teamed up this time?"

Grace sighed. "I'd like to say no, but I think that if we ended up teaming up, we would have been picked off." She replied. "So, to that, I'd have to say that yes, I think that part of the reason I'm here is because we never teamed up. I regret that we were pit against each other the entire way through, but in the end, I think it was for the best."

Inferno nodded as he looked at Krash. "Now Krash? What Grace and Reginald is saying is true to a point, You didn't exactly play much of a game." He explained. "So why do you think you should win despite not playing like the others?"

"Um…Because I didn't make anyone mad and got here without stabbing anyone in the back?" Krash asked. "I mean, I get that you're EXPECTED to play fiercely in this game, but it's not in the rulebook that you're SUPPOSED to. I think that if you can make the finals by not doing that is usually expected in this game, you deserve the win."

Inferno paused for a moment, then turned around. "I think I got what I needed. I'm done." He explained.

"Edwina, would you go?"

The female Scribblenaut stood up and walked over to start her questions. "Okay. Grace, I don't have a question for you. This will be for the boys." She explained.

"That's fine, Edwina."

"Reginald, I'm still curious as to why you considered Renaldo and I threats because we hooked up." Edwina explained. "Care to refresh my memory?"

"Krash made an off-the-cuff comment to me about how you and Renaldo were like the power couples like Rob and Amber. I made the connection that this would make you two an indestructible force if you went to the end or stayed too long." Reginald explained. "We needed to get rid of you two before it was too late."

"So what you're saying that the whole thing was KRASH'S idea?" Edwina asked.

Krash's eyes widened. "Hey! When did that happen?!" He asked. "I never had any plans in this game!"

"Well, Krash, how about I give you a chance to tell your side of the story?" Edwina asked.

"I was just telling Reginald that because I thought it was a funny comparison!" Krash insisted. "I didn't think that was where he'd gotten the idea to get rid of you two! That wasn't my intention at ALL!"

"Calm down, Krash. It was just a question." Edwina said. "I'm finished."

"Tempo, you're up."

Tempo got up and walked over to the finalists. I actually don't have any questions to ask you guys since I really wasn't given enough time to think up any that the others hadn't already chosen." He explained. "So, instead, I'll tell you what I know about each of you and express that to the rest of the jury."

Grace was the first target. "Grace, you were obviously trying to avoid a similar communication mistake from your last season. From the looks of things, you wanted to know everything that was going on around you, as if to make certain that there wasn't a failure to communicate. You needed to know how the people you were aligned with were voting and denied any involvement with votes that made you look like a target." Tempo explained. "You indeed fought hard to get here, and I applaud you for doing it, but I have to admit that you probably could have handled a few things differently and still made the end. The truth of the matter is that some of us are definitely bitter."

Krash was next. "Krash, you have an undying loyalty to the people you consider your friends, and you were determined to stick with us despite us not voting the way you wanted to. We needed to make sure the votes went the way they did specifically for game-related reasons." Tempo continued. "That being said, the others are right in saying that you didn't really play much of your own game despite giving others ideas in your own simple way. I've long-been aware that you don't like strategy and that's why your game was lacking, but the fact remains that the others outplayed you by a country mile."

Reginald was the last. "Reginald…Well, what can I say? None of us really took you seriously in the early days because Sandy was having a ball poking fun at you every time she turned around. Sure, you made the moves after the merge hit, but that's still just after the merge, even though you were saying that you made all the big moves." Tempo continued further. "I've always known that you had some sort of interest with being in control, which I can only assume is why you started that big alliance of five at the start of the season. Look, the bottom line is that you definitely talk a big game, but the bigger question is if you can actually deliver with your claims."

His job done, Tempo turned and walked back. "I'm finished." He said.

"Okay…Mel, would you go next?"

Mel got up and passed by Tempo as she approached the finalists. "Well, here we are again. Since this question is usually asked every season, I figure I may as well be the one to ask it: Is there anything that you did this season that you regret?" She asked. "Grace?"

"I regret making the decision to keep Kendall early on when we had the chance to boot him. Jack was eliminated because he and I thought Kendall was a good goat and we weren't expecting Kendall to abuse that fact the way he did." Grace sighed. "In the end, it just made me a target early on because I had associated with him."

"Krash?"

"What I regret actually happened just the other day. Reginald wouldn't leave me alone and kept pestering me about strategy and trying to get me to turn on Tempo." Krash explained. "I sorta snapped for a moment, but I calmed myself down. However, I still regret how I handled the situation."

"You lifted me off the ground by my vest." Reginald said flatly. "You could have just told me to leave you alone."

"Would you have actually LISTENED?" Krash countered. He didn't get an answer.

"How about you, Reginald?"

"I REALLY regret not having better control of my Rabbid tendencies around Sandy because she would always try to abuse them. The fact that Sandy and I spent so much time going after each other probably didn't make me look like the player I was trying to be." Reginald rolled his eyes. "I suppose I should be thankful that we only went to council twice pre-merge so that never got exploited."

"Okay. Thanks for the honest answers." Mel said as she turned. "I'm finished."

"Erica?"

Erica got up and walked over to the finalists. "Before I begin, I just wanted to say how awesome the experience was overall. Ignoring Kendall, I enjoyed playing the game with everyone and I loved the chance to play." She explained. "Now then, to my questions. Grace, I need to know for sure: Why did you vote me out?"

"Erica, you were a way bigger threat than you seemed. You were easy to make friends with, you were an extra vote to your favourite players and you were the main reason Mel abandoned Reginald in the first place." Grace explained. "Once we realized that, we knew we needed to take you out before you cleaned up in the finals."

"Okay. Sounds honest enough." Erica shrugged. "Since that seems to cover Reginald as well, I'll finish at Krash. I know that you hated strategy, but from the sounds of things, you were the one to give people some ideas for votes or gameplay. Is that true?"

"If it is, it was completely by accident. I tend to say what's on my mind and people may think that I'm trying to tell them something, but it's really just whatever's on my mind about a subject." Krash said. "Like I said, I don't really mean for them to get ideas out of what I say. It's just how things went for me."

"Okay. I got what I wanted." Erica said. "I'm finished."

"Um…Sandy, you're up."

Sandy walked over to the finalists and stood there in silence for a few seconds. "Um…Yeah. I'm just gonna vote for my bestie, okay?" She said as she turned and went back to the bench.

"The straitjacket's a good look on you, Sandy." Reginald called out as Sandy walked back to the jury bench.

"…Huh…Wasn't expecting it to be that short." SSBFreak scratched his head. "Okay. Renaldo?"

Renaldo stood up and walked over to the finalists, passing Sandy on the way by. "Well, since I'm one of few people that didn't make the merge last time, this is a bit of a new experience for me." He admitted. "So, for my questions, I'm wondering if there was anyone else that was voted off pre-merge that you would have liked to see make it further. Grace?"

"Definitely Jack. The way Kendall threw him under the bus like that made me think that he just had horrible luck back then." Grace said. "I think he could have done a lot better if he had joined with someone other than Kendall. It was just poor judgment on his part and he ended up paying for it."

"Okay. Krash?"

Krash scratched his head. "I don't really know. I mean, my entire alliance made the merge and I only went to council twice pre-merge. I don't really know if I can think of anyone that should have gone further." He admitted. "I'm sorry that I can't give any specifics, but I'm just drawing a blank here."

"Fair enough. Reginald?"

"Probably Elias since he was the person I felt I could work with the best without having any worry about a double-cross." Reginald explained. "He got hit with a bit of bad luck at the end of his stay and, even though he tried to survive the vote, he was in the end unable to and I think he should have at least been able to make the merge after how he was able to help."

"Okay. That's good enough, I suppose." Renaldo shrugged as he turned and walked back. "I'm done."

"That leaves Molly as the last one to go."

Molly stood up and silently walked over to the finalists. The final three waited for her to explode on them for unfair play.

"You're probably expecting me to lash out at you because I'm bitter, right?" Molly asked. The three were silent. "Well, you know what? I'm over it. Yeah, I'm mad that I was ousted from the game before I should have, but I'm over it. In fact, the extra time at Ponderosa to think about who to vote for helped me figure out what I thought of you all and how you played."

"Let's start with you, Reginald. You always thought that you had some sort of control by building that big alliance at the start, but in all actuality Mel and I were planning on jumping ship before too long because we both knew you were a tool." Molly said to Reginald. "The only reason we actually played along was that, up until I was booted, we needed your vote. Neither of us would have thought that you would have made it to the end because you're just as delusional as those Rabbids that you try to separate yourself from."

"Grace, you have a similar problem as Reginald, albeit not as severe. The biggest thing you have going for you in my eyes was that we were never on the same tribe up until the merge, so I can't fault you for whatever you did pre-merge." Molly continued. "From what I saw, you may have TRIED to be a better player pre-merge, but that all went out the window when you did whatever you could to stay in the game since you basically went into the merge by yourself. Yes, you made it to the end, and your game was basically what I probably would have done, but in the end you made as many enemies as Reginald did."

"Krash…Man, he just doesn't have his head in the game. He let his alliance do the thinking and by the time his entire alliance was gone, it was time for the finale, so he didn't do any thinking on his own. However, as you people probably know, Krash was exceptionally skilled at planting ideas, even if he didn't mean it." Molly finished. "For an example, back in the first few days, I had an idea to vote out Yori because she was a huge threat. I NEVER would have gotten that idea if Krash hadn't made an off-the-cuff comment about her beforehand. This is in addition to him being the one to get Reginald to vote out Edwina and Renaldo as well. So think about this. Krash practically made as many moves as anyone else, and he did it WITHOUT making anyone mad."

With that, Molly left the finalists. "That's it. I'm done." She said as she went back to her seat.

Once Molly was sitting down, SSBFreak turned to the others. "These nine jury members will now cast their votes to decide which of you three will be the one to win the million dollar prize. I hope that you all plead your cases and answered your questions the ways you wanted, because at this point, it's too late to change anything." He explained. "For the last time this season, it's time to vote. Edwina, you're up."

Edwina got up and left the hut to go vote. She wrote a name down and voted. "Let's see if you get enough votes." She said as she turned and walked away.

Renaldo wrote a name down and showed it. "I think that, in spite of everything, you played the best game overall." He said, having voted for Grace.

Molly wrote a name down and showed it as well. "I'll admit that this is mainly to spite Reginald." She admitted, revealing Krash's name on her ballot.

Chloe hummed a bit as she wrote a name down. "This choice is totally not as hard as I thought it was going to be." She said as she voted and walked away.

Erica approached the table and scribbled a name down. "I hope I'm making the right choice, even though it IS easy." She said as she voted and walked away.

Sandy, still in the straitjacket, used her foot to write down her ballot. "Looks legible enough for me." She said as she picked up the ballot with her foot and voted.

Inferno walked up to the table and showed his vote. "We may not have aligned, but we're still friends. Good luck." He said, having voted for Grace.

Mel quietly approached the table and wrote a name down. "It's all come down to this." She said as she put her ballot into the urn and walked away.

Tempo, the last to vote, showed his ballot and revealed Krash's name. "Like I'd vote for Grace or Reginald after aligning with you." He said as he voted and left the table.

Once all nine jury members voted, SSBFreak left to fetch the urn and returned with it under his arm. "The jury has voted and one of the three of you will be a million dollars richer once these names are read." He explained. "Obviously, we can't show it now, so we will wait four months at the reunion and make the announcement then."

"As if you'd do something different." Reginald rolled his eyes.

Everyone heard an engine roaring and turned to see a motorcycle with sidecar ride into council, the same one from last season. In addition, the same kooky-looking character was at the helm. The motorcycle stopped by the host as the driver motioned for SSBFreak to get in.

SSBFreak paused, looking over the driver. "Oh, no. I'm not falling for THAT one again." He said. "This time YOU ride in the sidecar."

Nodding his head quickly, the driver got off the motorcycle and jumped into the sidecar, allowing SSBFreak to get into the driver's position as he tossed the urn of votes into the sidecar.

"To our three finalists Grace, Krash and Reginald, and our jury of nine, I thank you all for another great season of Survivor." SSBFreak said as he brought the engine of the bike to life. "I'll see you all in four months at the reunion, where I will reveal the winner. Until then: Farewell!"

Suddenly, just like last year, the motorbike and sidecar became unhinged. However, unlike last year, the sidecar was the one to take off, roaring out of Tribal Council with the kooky-looking character sitting in it, carrying the urn of votes with him. This again left SSBFreak sitting in council in silence, although he was on the bike instead of in the sidecar this time.

"Um…" SSBFreak said as he got off the bike and pushed it out of council, leaving everyone else sitting there in silence.

"Huh. Wasn't expecting that." Krash scratched his head.

"I think I can hear the Marx Brothers turning in their graves." Reginald rolled his eyes

**(Reunion)**

The Final Tribal Council had just been played on a large screen in front of a cheering audience, sitting near a stage. SSBFreak was on the stage with the finalists and jury, having just watched the council, as the nine members of the jury sat aside, away from the three finalists, who were in the center of the stage.

Grace was wearing a green dress that went to her knees and a white jacket overtop of it. She had cut her hair to around the same length as it was back in season three and Grace was now sporting a pair of glasses, although it was unknown how much she actually needed them if she could play without them.

Krash had styled his red hair into a different style and was wearing a pair of red shorts to go with his black vest, which had remained untouched. It looked like Krash had been training further during the four month gap, as he looked the slightest-bit more-buff since the competition had ended.

Reginald was wearing a pair of shades and had traded his vest for a black jacket, which he wore over the same pair of pants that he had on the island. His charm necklace was gone and Reginald was instead wearing a tie, and if his fur wasn't white it would have looked like he was wearing a white shirt under the jacket.

"Welcome everyone, to the reunion and finale of Survivor: Central Hub All Stars. I'm here with our finalists, Grace, Krash and Reginald, as well as our jury of nine, to find out which of our three finalists will win the coveted million dollar prize and title of Sole Survivor, which will be revealed shortly." SSBFreak explained. "Grace, how did people react to seeing you make the finals?"

"My friends were all excited to see me make it this far, and my family is real proud of how I made it to the end. I really surprised their expectations considering that I left at eighth place last time." Grace explained. "Thankfully, everyone at school is aware that Lightning is a creep now and he isn't allowed anywhere near me anymore."

"Reginald, how has life been since the show?" SSBFreak asked.

"Considering I live around a bunch of brainless degenerates, terrible. I swear that, no matter how much prize money I make, I'm putting it towards moving away from the rest of the idiots." Reginald rolled his eyes. "At least I'd be able to find a place to live where I'd be around people I can actually TALK to."

"In the Raving Rabbids world?"

"I know it'd be difficult, but I'm still going to try."

"And Krash, do you think you surpassed the expectations of yourself and the people you know with how well you did in the contest?"

"I totally think so, especially since I was booted before the merge last time. I surprised myself, and the general implemented some more training into my schedule so that I could stay in peak condition." Krash nodded. "I think it's working, or else I'd probably get out of shape real quickly and suddenly become a worthless addition to the ranks."

"Um…Like Klump?"

Krash blinked in confusion and scratched his head in thought.

"Okay. One more question before I read the votes." SSBFreak said. "How much of a chance do you think you have at winning?"

"I think I've got a shot." Grace said.

"I think so as well." Krash added.

"We all know the vote is never a sure thing." Reginald assured.

"Okay. I think we've put this off long enough. It's time to read the jury's votes and determine the winner." SSBFreak said as he pulled out the urn of votes. "As usual for the finale, you actually WANT to see your name written on these ballots, because the person with the most votes will be crowned Sole Survivor and win the million dollar prize." SSBFreak explained. "For the last time this season, it's time to read the votes…"

"Good luck, guys." Krash said.

"Yeah. You as well." Grace said as Reginald nodded in acknowledgement.

"…First vote; Grace." Grace smiled.

"Krash." "That'd be from Sandy."

"…Krash." Krash looked excited.

"Grace. That's two for both Grace and Krash and none for Reginald." Grace was beginning to look anxious.

"Krash." "Wow. Really?"

"…Grace. We're tied at three and Reginald still has no votes." Grace bit her lip in nervousness.

"…Krash." Krash's eyes widened.

The finalists were silent, wondering what would happen.

The jury was quiet. Although they didn't look an anxious as the finalists, they still wanted to know who won.

"Next vote…"

The audience had gone silent, wondering if the vote would be even closer than it appeared.

The entire stage and audience was quiet.

"…Sole Survivor and winner of Survivor: Central Hub 5…"

Krash's eyes lit up in excitement.

"…KRASH!" SSBFreak announced.

Krash instantly leapt from his seat and cheered as loud as he could, clearly excited at what was happening. Grace was disappointedly, but politely, clapping for Krash and Reginald just looked stunned. Part of the front row of the audience, consisting mainly of Kremlings, were on their feet and cheering in victory for Krash as well.

"Congrats, Krash. Well played." Grace said.

"Seriously? 'Well played'?" Reginald asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Krash continued his celebration, waving at his friends in the front row as they cheered for him. Krash still couldn't believe that this was actually happening as he shook his head in disbelief and started crying tears of joy.

"Alright! Krash won!" Sandy cheered. "Awesome!"

"I know! I can't believe it!" Chloe cheered.

"How the heck did he pull that one off?" Inferno asked.

"It's called having a bitter jury." Molly smirked.

"And having three friends ON the jury." Tempo chuckled.

"Members of the jury, why not go over and congratulate the winner?" SSBFreak asked. "And we'll also bring out everyone else for a full reunion."

The jury of nine got up and rushed over to the winner and finalists to start congratulating them. As they did, the eight pre-merge boots emerged onto the stage and joined the others. Yori, Charlotte, Anita, Jack, Gary, Barney, Kendall and Elias were all accounted for.

"This is indeed a surprise." Charlotte smirked. "Well, I'm glad he was able to pull it off."

"I'm surprised and impressed." Elias noted. "I didn't think he'd be able to win after what little he did."

"Doesn't seem like he ticked anyone off, so that's probably it." Gary shrugged.

"He's got nothing but luck to thank for his win." Kendall rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, ya killjoy." Jack said.

As the twenty players were gathered around the stage, talking and congratulating the winner and runners-up, SSBFreak walked away from the crowd and looked at the camera. "And so ends the first All Star edition of Survivor: Central Hub. The unexpected happened, cross-season alliances were made and destroyed and everyone wanted to make the most of this second chance. The season was full of twists, backstabbings and plenty of strategy, and in the end the win went to someone who wouldn't have any of that." SSBFreak said. "Krash followed his alliance and unwittingly got people to vote differently, and this quirk of his was a key part of getting the jury to vote for him. Krash made the most of his second chance and is this season's Sole Survivor."

SSBFreak walked to the other side of the stage as the festivities continued. "That does it for this season, but join us next time, where a team of ten new faces will duke it out with a team of ten special guests in another game of Survivor, where there will indeed be a rough ride to the finals." He explained. "So who will win: A new player or one of the guests? Tune in next time to find out in the next season of Survivor: Central Hub. We'll see you then!"

**Voting History:**

**Krash – Chloe, Erica, Mel, Molly, Sandy and Tempo**

**Grace – Edwina, Inferno and Renaldo**

**Reginald – No Votes**

Author's Notes: The first all-stars season of Survivor: Central Hub is over and a winner has been decided. Overall, I'm satisfied with the season and I enjoyed the chance to write for everyone again, and I hope you all enjoyed the season even if the winner wasn't the person you were hoping for. That being said, I'm looking forward to writing for some new characters for next season, but I'll get to that at the end of the journal. For now, let's focus on the current one:

**Krash, the Winner...**

Krash was one of my favourite characters back in season two, and I enjoyed having him win this season after getting cut pre-merge last time. I don't want you to think of me choosing Krash as the winner to be appealing to the fanbase, since Krash is one of the most well-liked players I've had. Coming into this, I wanted to make this a story of how two people LOST instead of how one person WON. So who would be the best person to win that type of season? Probably the person that went into the game with no game strategy whatsoever. When I decided that, Krash just fell into the winning position. Even I was surprised when I decided it.

Sure, Krash wasn't as visible as other winners, but that all went into his story. I put him with Sandy because I knew she'd make him look more-normal by comparison and thus would make sure people wouldn't write him off too quickly. I think it was getting clearer that Krash would be winning late in the game, and that's when Sandy left because I didn't need her to hide Krash anymore. That being said, I still needed to give him some CP moments to keep him from getting written off at all, and that's where his tendency to plant ideas into the minds of others came in, being indirectly responsible for the eliminations of at least Yori, Edwina and Renaldo.

Overall, I'm glad that Krash won. I was overdue for another male winner anyway, and like I said, he'd be the perfect winner if I was having a story of how two people lost...Speaking of...

**Grace and Reginald, the Runners-Up...**

If I was to have a story of how two people lost, they needed to be the ones making all the moves and thus making the jury mad at them. Reginald was the first obvious choice as a finalist from the start, and Grace was chosen as the other runner-up shortly after I started planning the endgame.

Reginald was the obvious third-place for me because with his personality and move-making, I didn't think there'd be a way to get any of the jurors to vote for him in the end. I loved writing for Reginald again, but the problem I had was that, after Sandy left, he became less and less fun to write for. I guess that's another reason Sandy lasted so long; Because Reginald would become completely boring to write and read for without her.

Grace, on the other hand, was the player people thought could have won, and while she could have, she made almost as many moves that got people mad at her that Reginald did. She associated with Kendall, voted out Erica and alienated herself from Mel in the process. Don't get me wrong, I liked writing for Grace again, but since this was a story of how two people lost, I needed some of her ideas and moves to cost her in the end.


End file.
